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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: sharp · clip · wind · bark · lie · foot · wound · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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. foot — the bottom
  4. last — to go on
  5. clip — for paper
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wound — an injury
  10. clip — a video
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. sharp — clever
  14. bark — to shout
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. last — finally
  17. foot — a measure
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. lie — to recline
  22. wind — moving air
  23. clip — to cut
  24. lie — an untruth

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