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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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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: object · straw · court · cold · race · bowl · kick · bark

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. cold — an illness
  4. object — to protest
  5. court — of law
  6. object — an aim
  7. race — a contest
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. cold — not warm
  11. race — humankind
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. kick — in football
  16. court — for sport
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. court — of a king
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. object — a thing
  21. bark — to shout
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. race — the arms race
  24. bowl — a dish

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