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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 120 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: bark · court · race · file · last · sharp · cue · branch

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. court — of law
  3. file — a line of people
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. cue — for pool
  7. race — humankind
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. last — to go on
  11. court — for sport
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. file — a document
  14. race — the arms race
  15. branch — a division
  16. file — a tool
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. last — final
  19. sharp — clever
  20. bark — to shout
  21. cue — a hint
  22. last — finally
  23. race — a contest
  24. court — of a king

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