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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: foot · pitcher · bark · cap · wound · hand · last · plane

  1. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. bark — to shout
  5. last — to go on
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. cap — a lid
  9. cap — a hat
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. plane — a tool
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wound — an injury
  15. hand — help
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. foot — a measure
  18. cap — of ice
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — in cards
  24. foot — part of the body

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