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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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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 · lash · pitch · shower · date · cold · chest · swing

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. swing — to play on
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. shower — rain
  5. chest — a box
  6. pitch — completely
  7. bark — to shout
  8. swing — music
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. shower — to wash
  18. date — the fruit
  19. swing — in golf
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. cold — not warm
  24. date — on the calendar

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