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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: bear · bore · chest · row · clip · bark · face · lie

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. bore — to drill
  3. chest — of your body
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. lie — to recline
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bear — the animal
  10. row — to paddle
  11. bark — to shout
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bore — to tire
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. face — to point toward
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. row — a line
  23. chest — a box
  24. face — to confront

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