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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. chest — of your body
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. chest — of your body
  8. fall — to drop
  9. object — to protest
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. object — a thing
  12. chest — a box
  13. object — an aim
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. fall — to drop
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. face — to confront
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. cell — in biology
  20. fall — the season
  21. face — part of the head
  22. face — to point toward
  23. cell — a phone
  24. calf — of the leg

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