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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: trunk · kid · lie · bark · wound · last · pitcher · roll

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. last — final
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. roll — a list
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. wound — an injury
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. last — finally
  14. bark — to shout
  15. last — to go on
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. roll — a cake
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. lie — to recline
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. kid — child
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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