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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. chest — of your body
  5. band — a ring
  6. chest — a box
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. field — farmland
  10. row — a line
  11. field — a subject
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bark — to shout
  14. row — to paddle
  15. field — for sport
  16. fine — high quality
  17. fine — all right
  18. band — a music group
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. chest — of your body

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