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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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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: cabinet · pound · tear · squash · chair · field · stick · bark

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. chair — a leader
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. field — a subject
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. squash — to crush
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. pound — a weight
  13. squash — the sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. bark — to shout
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. field — for sport
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — from crying

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