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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.

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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: hand · chest · court · arm · can · bark · mouse · mine

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. hand — help
  4. chest — of your body
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. can — a tin
  8. chest — of your body
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. can — to be able to
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. court — of a king
  13. chest — a box
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. court — for sport
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. can — a tin
  18. mine — for digging
  19. bark — to shout
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hand — in cards
  22. court — of law
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. arm — part of the body

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