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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: last · snap · bark · mouse · pound · bat · mine · staff

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bark — to shout
  3. snap — to click
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. staff — employees
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. staff — a stick
  9. staff — employees
  10. mine — for digging
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. bat — the animal
  14. last — to go on
  15. last — finally
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. last — final
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. pound — a weight

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