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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: arm · cold · pound · bass · scale · bark · squash · track

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. bass — the fish
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. track — a song
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. squash — to crush
  10. bass — low music
  11. track — to keep track
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. cold — not warm
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. scale — size or range
  18. bark — to shout
  19. scale — in music
  20. pound — a weight
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. cold — an illness
  24. squash — the sport

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