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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: wind · season · wave · bark · scale · last · hand · dip

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. hand — help
  3. last — finally
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — final
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. hand — in cards
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. scale — size or range
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. season — in sport
  17. bark — to shout
  18. scale — in music
  19. season — of the year
  20. dip — to sink
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. wind — moving air

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