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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: band · fork · file · mate · bark · wake · last · chip

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. last — to go on
  4. mate — a partner
  5. bark — to shout
  6. fork — in a road
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. chip — to eat
  12. last — finally
  13. chip — for betting
  14. file — a tool
  15. band — a music group
  16. mate — a friend
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a ring
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. file — a line of people
  21. wake — a trail
  22. file — a document
  23. mate — to breed
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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