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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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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: rest · bear · cell · bark · field · hide

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. bear — the animal
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. cell — in biology
  7. rest — a break
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. field — a subject
  10. bear — the animal
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — what's left
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — for sport
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — a phone
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — to shout

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