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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.

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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: craft · cold · bass · chest · bear · stem · pitch · bark

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. craft — a skill
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. stem — to come from
  14. bass — low music
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bark — to shout
  17. pitch — completely
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. cold — an illness
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. chest — a box
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. craft — boats

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