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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: bear · press · last · rock · foot · key · bark · game

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. game — wild animals
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. last — to go on
  7. key — in music
  8. key — for a lock
  9. key — the most important part
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. press — to push
  12. game — a match
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. bear — the animal
  15. foot — a measure
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bark — to shout
  19. press — a publisher
  20. last — final
  21. last — finally
  22. press — newspapers
  23. rock — a stone
  24. bear — the 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