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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 · cell · row · tear · wind · spring · chair · bore

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. tear — from crying
  4. spring — a coil
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. wind — moving air
  7. spring — of water
  8. tear — to rip
  9. row — to paddle
  10. bore — to tire
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. bore — to drill
  14. cell — in biology
  15. tear — from crying
  16. spring — the season
  17. chair — a leader
  18. cell — a phone
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. row — a line
  24. bark — of a tree

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