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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: bark · net · charge · face · hide · field · kid · row

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bark — to shout
  3. charge — a price
  4. kid — to tease
  5. net — in sport
  6. row — to paddle
  7. row — a line
  8. charge — in control
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. face — to point toward
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. net — for catching
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. field — a subject
  15. net — after costs
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. charge — electricity
  18. face — part of the head
  19. face — to confront
  20. kid — child
  21. field — for sport
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. hide — to keep secret

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