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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: bark · chest · ground · chip · rash · bat · saw · staff

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. rash — hasty
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. chip — for betting
  9. staff — employees
  10. bark — to shout
  11. ground — the earth
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. ground — a position
  14. ground — crushed
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. rash — a series
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bat — the animal
  19. chip — to eat
  20. chest — a box
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. staff — employees
  24. saw — the tool

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