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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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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: fall · kid · last · bark · clip · deal · object · mark

  1. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. last — to go on
  3. kid — child
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. mark — a trace
  7. fall — to drop
  8. kid — to tease
  9. last — final
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. clip — for paper
  12. object — to protest
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. deal — to handle
  15. object — an aim
  16. bark — to shout
  17. mark — a grade
  18. last — finally
  19. fall — the season
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — a video
  23. fall — to drop
  24. bark — of a tree

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