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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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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: cabinet · bark · pit · degree · cold · land · rest · stand

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  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. pit — a fruit stone
  2. stand — to bear
  3. land — ground
  4. land — to come down
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pit — in a race
  7. land — a country
  8. bark — to shout
  9. pit — a hole
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. degree — temperature
  12. rest — what's left
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. degree — from a university
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. rest — what's left
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. rest — a break
  22. degree — an amount
  23. cabinet — ministers
  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