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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: chest · bark · cabinet · mark · chip · stand · straw · season

  1. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. season — in sport
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. stand — to bear
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. bark — to shout
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. mark — a trace
  10. chip — for betting
  11. chest — a box
  12. chest — of your body
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. chip — to eat
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. mark — a grade
  21. season — of the year
  22. chest — of your body
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. bark — 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