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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 116 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.

Make a worksheet

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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bark · chair · hide · game · stem · cap

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. game — wild animals
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cap — a lid
  6. bark — to shout
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. game — a match
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. cap — a hat
  16. chair — a leader
  17. stem — to come from
  18. 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