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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: cell · bass · bark · net · tear · pit · chip · rest

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. bass — low music
  3. rest — a break
  4. bark — to shout
  5. cell — in biology
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. chip — to eat
  8. pit — a hole
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. rest — what's left
  11. net — in sport
  12. chip — for betting
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. tear — from crying
  15. net — after costs
  16. tear — to rip
  17. rest — what's left
  18. cell — a phone
  19. pit — in a race
  20. bass — the fish
  21. net — for catching
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bass — the instrument

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