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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: rest · staff · bark · chair · bat · tear

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bat — the animal
  5. tear — to rip
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. staff — employees
  8. rest — a break
  9. tear — from crying
  10. rest — what's left
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. staff — a stick
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. chair — a leader
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. bark — to shout
  17. staff — employees
  18. bat — in an idiom

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