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

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. chair — a leader
  4. stem — to come from
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. mark — a grade
  9. bark — to shout
  10. chip — for betting
  11. content — happy
  12. mark — a trace
  13. hand — help
  14. chip — to eat
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. chest — a box
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. content — the amount
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. chair — to sit on

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