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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: kid · bark · mark · current · cold · chest · bass · pitch

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. mark — a trace
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bass — low music
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bass — the fish
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. current — of water
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. current — electric
  13. chest — of your body
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bark — to shout
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. chest — a box
  18. mark — a grade
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. cold — an illness
  22. chest — of your body
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pitch — completely

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