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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: rash · bark · pit · degree · bass · can · field · chest

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. field — farmland
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. pit — a hole
  5. bass — the fish
  6. can — a tin
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. bark — to shout
  10. can — to be able to
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. degree — from a university
  14. field — for sport
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — an amount
  18. bass — low music
  19. rash — a series
  20. field — a subject
  21. chest — a box
  22. rash — hasty
  23. chest — of your body
  24. can — a tin

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