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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: tear · plane · hide · arm · land · bark · hand · bat

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. land — a country
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. hand — in cards
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. bark — to shout
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. tear — from crying
  16. land — ground
  17. plane — a tool
  18. land — to come down
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. bat — the animal

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