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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: lie · straw · fan · chest · press · bark · capital · last

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. last — final
  7. press — newspapers
  8. last — finally
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. chest — of your body
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. last — to go on
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. bark — to shout
  17. capital — money
  18. lie — to recline
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. press — to push
  22. press — a publisher
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. straw — dry grass

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