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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: rush · last · bark · present · degree · march · arm · lean

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. lean — to bend
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. degree — an amount
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. last — final
  11. march — the month
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. march — music
  14. present — the time now
  15. march — the month
  16. present — a gift
  17. last — finally
  18. bark — to shout
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. last — to go on
  21. rush — hurry
  22. degree — temperature
  23. present — there
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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