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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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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: chair · prune · bat · racket · bark · rule · chest · key

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. prune — to trim
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. bat — the animal
  7. rule — a law
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chair — a leader
  10. key — the most important part
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. prune — to trim
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bark — to shout
  20. rule — government
  21. chest — a box
  22. key — in music
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. chest — of your 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