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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. rest — what's left
  5. bass — low music
  6. bass — the fish
  7. net — in sport
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. chest — of your body
  15. can — a tin
  16. net — for catching
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — temperature
  19. chest — of your body
  20. rest — a break
  21. chest — a box
  22. rest — what's left
  23. net — after costs
  24. can — a tin

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