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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bark — to shout
  7. rock — music
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. file — a tool
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. chest — of your body
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. cell — in biology
  14. file — a document
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. chest — a box
  18. rock — a stone
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. file — a line of people
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — the animal
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bark — of a tree

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