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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: last · bat · bulb · bark · tear · calf · chest · squash

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. chest — of your body
  3. squash — the sport
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. tear — from crying
  10. last — finally
  11. bulb — for light
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. chest — of your body
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. chest — a box
  17. last — to go on
  18. squash — to crush
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. last — final
  22. bark — to shout
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bulb — of a plant

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