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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: perch · kid · pit · suit · bark · rest · last · degree

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. suit — in cards
  3. rest — a break
  4. last — finally
  5. degree — from a university
  6. suit — to fit
  7. pit — a hole
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. kid — child
  10. perch — the fish
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. rest — what's left
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. pit — in a race
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. last — final
  20. degree — an amount
  21. kid — to tease
  22. bark — to shout
  23. suit — clothes
  24. rest — what's left

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com