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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: bark · sharp · court · net · bay · firm · bat · stock

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. firm — steady
  6. firm — a company
  7. court — of law
  8. bark — to shout
  9. court — for sport
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. net — after costs
  13. stock — goods
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. firm — decided
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. net — in sport
  19. stock — shares
  20. court — of a king
  21. net — for catching
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. sharp — clever
  24. stock — a soup base

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