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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: kid · jam · present · bass · bark · cold · bowl · last

  1. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  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. jam — a tight spot
  2. kid — to tease
  3. last — final
  4. present — there
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. present — the time now
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. present — a gift
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bark — to shout
  16. cold — an illness
  17. last — to go on
  18. kid — child
  19. bass — the fish
  20. last — finally
  21. bass — low music
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  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