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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: fine · land · last · lie · bark · kick · mate · file

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. last — finally
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. land — ground
  5. mate — a partner
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. land — to come down
  8. fine — all right
  9. lie — to recline
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. last — to go on
  12. last — final
  13. kick — in football
  14. mate — to breed
  15. file — a tool
  16. bark — to shout
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. file — a document
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. land — a country
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. file — a line of people
  24. mate — a friend

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