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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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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: date · ball · leaves · bark · game · swing · content · spell

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. bark — to shout
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. ball — a great time
  5. game — a match
  6. content — happy
  7. game — wild animals
  8. ball — a dance
  9. content — the amount
  10. swing — in golf
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. spell — letters
  15. date — the fruit
  16. spell — magic
  17. swing — to play on
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. spell — a short time
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. swing — music
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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