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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: toast · lie · racket · bowl · craft · bark · clip · court

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. lie — to recline
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. court — of law
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. craft — a skill
  11. clip — a video
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. clip — for paper
  15. court — for sport
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. court — of a king
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. toast — bread

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