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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 120 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: tear · chest · stock · bark · drill · hide · chair · row

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. chest — a box
  8. drill — the tool
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. stock — goods
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. drill — a practice
  15. tear — to rip
  16. drill — army training
  17. chair — a leader
  18. tear — from crying
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. row — a line
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. stock — shares
  23. row — to paddle
  24. chest — of your body

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