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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: pitch · stem · cold · rash · bass · pound · bark · present

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. cold — an illness
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. cold — not warm
  6. rash — a series
  7. bass — the fish
  8. present — the time now
  9. bass — low music
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. rash — hasty
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. pitch — completely
  15. stem — to come from
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. present — there
  18. pound — a weight
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. present — a gift
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. pound — for dogs

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