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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: chair · arm · plane · capital · stick · hand · bark · wind

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. plane — a tool
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. capital — money
  9. bark — to shout
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. hand — help
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. hand — in cards
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. capital — a city
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. wind — moving air
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. chair — a leader

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