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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: sharp · row · bark · file · ball · march · stem · chest

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. file — a line of people
  3. sharp — clever
  4. march — the month
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. file — a tool
  7. chest — a box
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. stem — to come from
  11. march — music
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. march — the month
  14. row — a line
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bark — to shout
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. file — a document
  20. ball — a great time
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. row — to paddle
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. ball — a dance

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