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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: last · bound · ball · bark · race · sharp · snap · straw

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. ball — a great time
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. last — final
  6. race — humankind
  7. sharp — clever
  8. race — the arms race
  9. bound — obliged
  10. bark — to shout
  11. ball — a dance
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. snap — to click
  14. last — finally
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. race — a contest
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. bound — tied together
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. bound — certain
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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