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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 · face · scale · clip · chest · mug · last · trunk

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. clip — a video
  5. chest — a box
  6. mug — to rob
  7. mug — a cup
  8. face — to point toward
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. scale — in music
  11. scale — size or range
  12. chest — of your body
  13. last — finally
  14. chest — of your body
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. face — part of the head
  17. bark — to shout
  18. clip — for paper
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. mug — a face
  22. clip — to cut
  23. last — final
  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