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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: row · saw · bark · last · wake · cell · mine · calf

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. saw — the tool
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. last — to go on
  11. row — a line
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. bark — to shout
  14. row — to paddle
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. wake — a trail
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. cell — a phone
  20. last — final
  21. mine — for digging
  22. saw — the tool
  23. last — finally
  24. cell — in biology

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