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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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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: wind · game · craft · mark · band · bark · cell · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bark — to shout
  4. mark — a trace
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. game — a match
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cell — in biology
  10. mark — a grade
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. craft — a skill
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. band — a music group
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. last — to go on
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. game — wild animals
  22. last — finally
  23. craft — boats
  24. band — a ring

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