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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. cell — in biology
  4. shower — rain
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. chest — of your body
  14. track — a song
  15. cell — a phone
  16. bark — to shout
  17. track — a path
  18. chest — a box
  19. track — to keep track
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. chest — of your body
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. plane — a tool

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