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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: wound · pitch · last · shower · kid · bark · rush · leaves

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. bark — to shout
  3. kid — to tease
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. last — to go on
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. pitch — completely
  10. wound — an injury
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. shower — to wash
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. wound — an injury
  17. shower — rain
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. last — finally
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. rush — hurry
  22. kid — child
  23. last — final
  24. leaves — to go away

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