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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 116 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: leaves · last · plane · mark · bark · row · degree · clip

  1. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. degree — from a university
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. plane — a tool
  5. clip — to cut
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. row — a line
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. last — final
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. bark — to shout
  13. clip — for paper
  14. degree — an amount
  15. clip — a video
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. row — to paddle
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. degree — temperature
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. last — to go on
  23. last — finally
  24. mark — a grade

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