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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: squash · last · cell · spell · land · rest · bark · firm

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. rest — what's left
  3. bark — to shout
  4. rest — a break
  5. land — to come down
  6. cell — in biology
  7. squash — the sport
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. firm — decided
  11. land — a country
  12. last — to go on
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. firm — steady
  15. spell — letters
  16. squash — to crush
  17. cell — a phone
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. land — ground
  20. spell — magic
  21. spell — a short time
  22. rest — what's left
  23. firm — a company
  24. last — finally

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