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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.

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: bat · pop · bark · field · fan · arm

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  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. bat — the animal
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. pop — soda
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. field — a subject
  12. bark — to shout
  13. field — farmland
  14. pop — to visit
  15. field — for sport
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. pop — music
  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