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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 · arm · chest · pitcher · land · rash · fan · dip

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. dip — to sink
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. chest — of your body
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. land — a country
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. rash — hasty
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. rash — a series
  13. bark — to shout
  14. land — to come down
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. land — ground
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. pitcher — a jug

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