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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: shower · chair · bulb · perch · content · bark · ball · race

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. bulb — for light
  3. race — a contest
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. shower — to wash
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. bark — to shout
  11. chair — a leader
  12. ball — a great time
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. content — the amount
  15. bulb — for light
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — the arms race
  18. ball — a dance
  19. content — happy
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. perch — the fish
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. shower — rain

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