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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: wound · racket · wake · hide · bark · straw · mark · rest

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. mark — a trace
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — a break
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. mark — a grade
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. rest — what's left
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. wound — an injury
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bark — to shout

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