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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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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 · rock · firm · shower · face · branch · spring

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. firm — a company
  3. spring — the season
  4. rock — a stone
  5. shower — to wash
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. chest — of your body
  9. face — to confront
  10. chest — a box
  11. chest — of your body
  12. firm — decided
  13. rock — music
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. face — part of the head
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. branch — a division
  19. spring — a coil
  20. firm — steady
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. face — to point toward
  23. spring — of water
  24. shower — rain

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