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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 120 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: bark · pit · pop · hand · chip · spell · last · arm

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. hand — in cards
  4. last — to go on
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. pop — to visit
  7. chip — to eat
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. pop — music
  10. pit — a hole
  11. last — finally
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. spell — magic
  14. last — final
  15. hand — help
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. bark — to shout
  19. spell — a short time
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. pit — in a race
  22. chip — for betting
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. pop — soda

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