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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: deal · straw · bark · ground · chest · bore · scale · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. last — finally
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bore — to drill
  6. scale — size or range
  7. deal — to handle
  8. ground — the earth
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. chest — a box
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. ground — crushed
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — of your body
  20. scale — in music
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bore — to tire
  23. ground — a position
  24. last — to go on

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