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

Word bank: club · row · court · cell · straw · bark

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. court — of law
  3. club — for golf
  4. club — a group
  5. court — for sport
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. court — of a king
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. row — a line
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. row — to paddle
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. cell — a phone
  17. bark — to shout
  18. club — for dancing

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