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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. last — final
  3. chest — of your body
  4. stem — to come from
  5. bark — to shout
  6. row — to paddle
  7. last — finally
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. chest — a box
  10. row — a line
  11. rule — government
  12. chip — for betting
  13. rule — a law
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. last — to go on
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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