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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: squash · chip · cold · court · pitch · bark · bulb · row

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. cold — not warm
  3. row — a line
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. row — to paddle
  8. squash — to crush
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bark — to shout
  11. pitch — completely
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. court — of a king
  14. bulb — for light
  15. chip — for betting
  16. cold — an illness
  17. chip — to eat
  18. court — for sport
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. bulb — for light
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. squash — the sport
  24. squash — the vegetable

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