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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: tear · arm · plane · field · bark · game · fork · chest

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. game — a match
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. chest — of your body
  5. tear — to rip
  6. plane — a tool
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. game — wild animals
  9. tear — from crying
  10. field — a subject
  11. chest — a box
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. field — farmland
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. fork — in a road
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. field — for sport
  18. chest — of your body
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. tear — from crying
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. plane — in geometry

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