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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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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: key · wound · pound · cell · bark · coach · kid · chest

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. bark — to shout
  3. wound — an injury
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pound — a weight
  11. chest — a box
  12. kid — child
  13. key — the most important part
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. key — for a lock
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cell — a phone
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. chest — of your body
  21. key — in music
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — to tease
  24. cell — in biology

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