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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 · cabinet · wound · pitch · row · rule · last · hand

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. hand — help
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rule — a law
  8. pitch — completely
  9. rule — government
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. last — finally
  13. row — a line
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. hand — in cards
  18. bark — to shout
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. row — to paddle
  21. wound — an injury
  22. last — to go on
  23. last — final
  24. rule — to rule out

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