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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: shower · pitch · bark · clip · deal · rash · last · pit

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. pit — in a race
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. rash — hasty
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. shower — rain
  8. clip — a video
  9. deal — to handle
  10. pitch — completely
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. shower — to wash
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. pit — a hole
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. clip — for paper
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. last — final
  19. bark — to shout
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. rash — a series
  22. clip — to cut
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. last — finally

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