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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 120 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: cold · wound · pitch · wake · face · pop · stick · bark

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. bark — to shout
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. face — part of the head
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. face — to point toward
  10. pop — music
  11. pop — to visit
  12. wound — an injury
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. pop — soda
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. pitch — completely
  18. face — to confront
  19. wound — an injury
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. wake — a trail

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