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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: sharp · rest · pitch · saw · bark · mark · row · land

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. land — ground
  3. land — a country
  4. saw — the tool
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. rest — what's left
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. mark — a grade
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. saw — the tool
  14. land — to come down
  15. rest — what's left
  16. row — to paddle
  17. row — a line
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. mark — a trace
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. sharp — clever
  22. bark — to shout
  23. rest — a break
  24. pitch — completely

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