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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: arm · track · field · kid · tear · cue · bark · chest

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. cue — for pool
  3. track — a path
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. track — to keep track
  7. field — a subject
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. cue — a hint
  10. field — farmland
  11. tear — from crying
  12. field — for sport
  13. bark — to shout
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — to tease
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. tear — to rip
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. track — a song
  23. cue — a signal
  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