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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: mark · pop · bear · bark · capital · content · cold · chest

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. chest — of your body
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bark — to shout
  6. mark — a grade
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bear — the animal
  9. mark — a trace
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — happy
  13. cold — an illness
  14. capital — money
  15. content — the amount
  16. chest — a box
  17. bear — the animal
  18. capital — a city
  19. chest — of your body
  20. pop — music
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. pop — soda
  24. pop — to visit

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