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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. rash — hasty
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. chest — a box
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bark — to shout
  13. hand — help
  14. chest — of your body
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. capital — money
  17. rash — a series
  18. capital — a city
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. stem — to come from
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. hand — in cards

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