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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: toast · ground · present · bark · last · wound · club · bass

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  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. club — for golf
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. bass — low music
  4. toast — bread
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. ground — crushed
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. ground — the earth
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bass — the fish
  14. last — final
  15. present — a gift
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. club — for dancing
  18. present — the time now
  19. club — a group
  20. present — there
  21. ground — a position
  22. last — to go on
  23. bark — to shout
  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