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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: court · lie · date · bark · drill · wake · chest · sharp

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. wake — a trail
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. court — of a king
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. lie — to recline
  9. bark — to shout
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. drill — the tool
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. chest — of your body
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. sharp — clever
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. drill — army training
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. drill — a practice
  24. date — the fruit

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