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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. cap — a lid
  3. bass — low music
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. chest — a box
  7. chest — of your body
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. cap — a hat
  10. track — to keep track
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. rule — government
  14. cap — of ice
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. track — a path
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bass — the fish
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. rule — a law
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. track — a song

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