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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 · hide · mine · rule · chest · dip · season

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. chair — a leader
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. mine — for digging
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. dip — to sink
  14. season — of the year
  15. rule — a law
  16. chest — of your body
  17. rule — government
  18. chest — a box
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. season — in sport
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. bark — to shout

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