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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: kick · season · hand · last · cell · bark · vault · bat

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. hand — in cards
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. season — in sport
  5. cell — in biology
  6. bark — to shout
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. last — to go on
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. season — of the year
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. hand — help
  16. kick — in football
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. last — final
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. last — finally
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. vault — a safe
  23. bat — the animal
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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