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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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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: rest · mug · pass · perch · march · cold · chest · bark

  1. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. march — the month
  3. bark — to shout
  4. perch — the fish
  5. march — the month
  6. pass — a permit
  7. cold — an illness
  8. rest — what's left
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mug — a cup
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mug — a face
  15. chest — a box
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. chest — of your body
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. rest — a break
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. rest — what's left
  23. march — music
  24. perch — for a bird

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