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

Word bank: lie · swing · hide · chest · tear · bark

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. tear — to rip
  8. bark — to shout
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. lie — to recline
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. swing — to play on
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. swing — in golf

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