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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: hide · fork · vault · bark · clip · chest · last · rash

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. vault — a safe
  4. chest — a box
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. bark — to shout
  7. rash — a series
  8. chest — of your body
  9. last — to go on
  10. clip — a video
  11. last — finally
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rash — hasty
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. chest — of your body
  21. fork — in a road
  22. last — final
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. clip — for paper

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