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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 116 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: perch · game · bark · court · wake · mate

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. court — for sport
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. mate — a partner
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. mate — to breed
  10. bark — to shout
  11. court — of law
  12. perch — the fish
  13. game — a match
  14. game — wild animals
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. court — of a king
  18. wake — a trail

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