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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: mine · ball · bark · content · trunk · last · board · hand

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. content — happy
  4. last — finally
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. hand — in cards
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. board — to get on
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. content — the amount
  12. last — to go on
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. bark — to shout
  16. hand — help
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. board — a committee
  19. ball — a great time
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. last — final
  24. trunk — of a tree

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