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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: bark · trunk · ball · kid · ground · rock · firm · content

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  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. kid — to tease
  2. firm — a company
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. firm — steady
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. firm — decided
  7. ball — a great time
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. content — happy
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. rock — music
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. kid — child
  14. ground — crushed
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. bark — to shout
  17. ball — a dance
  18. content — the amount
  19. ground — a position
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. rock — a stone
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. ground — the earth
  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