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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: chair · field · ball · bore · band · object · bat · bark

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. object — an aim
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. chair — a leader
  7. band — a music group
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. ball — a dance
  11. field — a subject
  12. bore — to tire
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — for sport
  17. ball — a great time
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. object — to protest
  22. object — a thing
  23. bore — to drill
  24. band — a ring

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