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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
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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: staff · deal · arm · shower · bark · land · bowl · row

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. land — a country
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. deal — to handle
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. land — to come down
  8. land — ground
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. shower — to wash
  12. shower — rain
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. staff — employees
  15. bark — to shout
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. row — a line
  18. staff — a stick
  19. staff — employees
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. row — to paddle
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. deal — a big deal

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