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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. date — the fruit
  3. file — a document
  4. field — a subject
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. chest — a box
  7. clip — for paper
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. file — a line of people
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. clip — a video
  13. bark — to shout
  14. field — farmland
  15. cue — for pool
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. chest — of your body
  18. field — for sport
  19. cue — a hint
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. cue — a signal
  23. file — a tool
  24. clip — to cut

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