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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: bark · trunk · content · field · bass · hide · craft · chest

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. field — a subject
  4. bass — low music
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. chest — of your body
  7. craft — boats
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. field — for sport
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. content — the amount
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. bark — to shout
  17. chest — a box
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. bass — the fish
  20. craft — a skill
  21. field — farmland
  22. chest — of your body
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. hide — animal skin

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