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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: last · bark · swing · land · patient · firm · face · pitcher

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. face — part of the head
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. swing — to play on
  6. bark — to shout
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. swing — in golf
  9. face — to confront
  10. firm — steady
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. swing — music
  13. land — a country
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. last — to go on
  17. firm — a company
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. last — finally
  20. face — to point toward
  21. firm — decided
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. last — final
  24. land — ground

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