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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. court — of law
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bark — to shout
  6. spring — the season
  7. spell — letters
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — a position
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. fork — in a road
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. ground — crushed
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. spell — magic
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. court — for sport
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. content — happy
  21. spring — of water
  22. content — the amount
  23. court — of a king
  24. spell — a short time

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