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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: bat · foot · chest · mine · bark · stick · tear · chip

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. chest — of your body
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. chip — for betting
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bark — to shout
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. chest — a box
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. chip — to eat
  20. bat — the animal
  21. foot — a measure
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. mine — for digging

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