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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: fork · last · straw · track · wound · kick · bark · mine

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. bark — to shout
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. mine — for digging
  8. wound — an injury
  9. kick — in football
  10. last — final
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. track — a path
  14. fork — in a road
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. last — finally
  19. wound — an injury
  20. track — to keep track
  21. track — a song
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. mine — an explosive

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