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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: last · fan · bark · chest · clip · rule · sharp · pitch

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. rule — a law
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. sharp — clever
  8. clip — a video
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. rule — government
  12. clip — for paper
  13. pitch — completely
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. chest — of your body
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. bark — to shout
  18. chest — of your body
  19. last — final
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. last — finally
  22. last — to go on
  23. chest — a box
  24. bark — of a tree

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