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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: bark · chair · game · tear · mate · ground · file · bear

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. file — a tool
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bear — the animal
  10. mate — a friend
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. chair — a leader
  13. ground — crushed
  14. bark — to shout
  15. tear — to rip
  16. ground — the earth
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. game — a match
  19. file — a document
  20. bear — the animal
  21. mate — a partner
  22. mate — to breed
  23. ground — a position
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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