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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: sharp · game · bark · chest · fan · dip · foot · cell

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. chest — of your body
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. game — a match
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. cell — in biology
  11. sharp — clever
  12. dip — to sink
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. foot — a measure
  18. cell — a phone
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. game — wild animals
  21. chest — a box
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. bark — to shout
  24. fan — to cool the air

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