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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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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: scale · cold · racket · bark · court · lie · ground · wake

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  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. bark — a dog's sound
  2. court — of law
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. scale — in music
  5. ground — crushed
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. ground — a position
  9. ground — the earth
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. lie — to recline
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wake — a trail
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — size or range
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. court — for sport
  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