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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 124 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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Word bank
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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: band · hand · mark · bark · chair · last · stick · hide

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. chair — a leader
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bark — to shout
  9. band — a music group
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. last — to go on
  13. band — a ring
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. last — final
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. mark — a trace
  19. hand — help
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. mark — a grade
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. last — finally

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