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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: perch · bark · wound · fork · last · shower · wake · kick

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. perch — the fish
  6. last — final
  7. last — to go on
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. last — finally
  10. bark — to shout
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. shower — rain
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — an injury
  18. fork — in a road
  19. shower — to wash
  20. kick — in football
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. wake — a trail
  24. perch — for a bird

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