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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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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: bark · bear · leaves · rule · chest · pass · mug · cold

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. mug — a cup
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bark — to shout
  8. mug — to rob
  9. mug — a face
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. chest — a box
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. rule — a law
  16. bear — the animal
  17. pass — a permit
  18. rule — government
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. bear — the animal

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