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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. court — for sport
  4. net — in sport
  5. last — final
  6. net — for catching
  7. last — to go on
  8. net — after costs
  9. drill — the tool
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. season — of the year
  12. season — in sport
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. court — of law
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. court — of a king
  17. drill — army training
  18. staff — employees
  19. staff — employees
  20. staff — a stick
  21. bark — to shout
  22. last — finally
  23. drill — a practice
  24. trunk — of a tree

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