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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: pit · chest · bark · pop · cold · rush · cell · rock

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. chest — a box
  5. cell — in biology
  6. rush — hurry
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. pop — music
  9. cell — a phone
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. rock — music
  14. pit — a hole
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bark — to shout
  17. chest — of your body
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. pop — soda
  20. rock — a stone
  21. cold — an illness
  22. pit — in a race
  23. pop — to visit
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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