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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: leaves · mark · straw · pitch · bark · kid · chest · bass

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. chest — of your body
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. mark — a grade
  5. kid — to tease
  6. chest — a box
  7. chest — of your body
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. pitch — completely
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. kid — child
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. bass — low music
  16. mark — a trace
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. bass — the fish
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bark — to shout
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. leaves — 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