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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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468
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: spell · sharp · season · kid · court · date · bark · kick

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. season — of the year
  3. date — the fruit
  4. court — of law
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. kid — child
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. court — of a king
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. bark — to shout
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. sharp — clever
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. spell — magic
  16. court — for sport
  17. kick — in football
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. spell — letters
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. spell — a short time
  22. kid — to tease
  23. season — in sport
  24. date — on the calendar

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