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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: bark · straw · last · content · rest · net · hand · saw

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. last — to go on
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. content — happy
  7. rest — what's left
  8. bark — to shout
  9. net — in sport
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. hand — help
  12. content — the amount
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. saw — the tool
  15. last — finally
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. net — for catching
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. last — final
  21. rest — a break
  22. net — after costs
  23. hand — in cards
  24. rest — what's left

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