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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: arm · bark · bat · bore · fall · rock · snap · court

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. fall — to drop
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. rock — a stone
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bore — to tire
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. snap — to click
  9. court — of law
  10. bat — the animal
  11. fall — the season
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. court — for sport
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. court — of a king
  18. fall — to drop
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. bore — to drill
  24. arm — part of the body

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