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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 120 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: sharp · club · bark · fine · last · wind · race · scale

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — to go on
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. club — for golf
  6. fine — high quality
  7. scale — in music
  8. race — humankind
  9. race — the arms race
  10. club — for dancing
  11. scale — size or range
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. sharp — clever
  14. club — a group
  15. last — final
  16. bark — to shout
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air
  19. fine — all right
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. race — a contest
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. wind — moving air
  24. scale — for weighing

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