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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: file · dip · craft · bat · ground · bark · chest · rest

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bark — to shout
  3. chest — of your body
  4. ground — a position
  5. dip — to sink
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. craft — boats
  8. rest — what's left
  9. file — a document
  10. ground — the earth
  11. craft — a skill
  12. file — a line of people
  13. chest — a box
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — a break
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. bat — the animal
  21. ground — crushed
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. file — a 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