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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: net · sharp · bark · rest · cold · coach · track · chest

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. chest — of your body
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. cold — an illness
  6. net — after costs
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. net — in sport
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. rest — what's left
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. cold — not warm
  14. net — for catching
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. chest — a box
  17. track — a song
  18. track — to keep track
  19. bark — to shout
  20. chest — of your body
  21. rest — a break
  22. track — a path
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. sharp — clever

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