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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: march · cap · bark · last · drill · calf · arm · race

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. last — to go on
  4. cap — of ice
  5. march — music
  6. drill — a practice
  7. race — the arms race
  8. march — the month
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. cap — a hat
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. march — the month
  14. race — humankind
  15. drill — the tool
  16. race — a contest
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. cap — a lid
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. drill — army training
  21. last — final
  22. last — finally
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. calf — a young animal

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