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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: bark · cue · cold · content · chest · squash · current · capital

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cue — a signal
  3. chest — of your body
  4. squash — to crush
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cue — for pool
  8. cue — a hint
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. current — happening now
  13. capital — money
  14. content — the amount
  15. content — happy
  16. current — electric
  17. squash — the sport
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. current — of water
  20. chest — a box
  21. capital — a city
  22. cold — an illness
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. cold — not warm

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