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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: last · straw · lean · race · pitch · bark · mark · capital

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. race — a contest
  3. mark — a grade
  4. capital — a city
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. lean — thin
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. race — the arms race
  9. last — final
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. last — finally
  17. race — humankind
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. pitch — completely
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. bark — to shout
  22. capital — money
  23. mark — a trace
  24. last — to go on

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