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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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: court · cold · board · content · spell · bark · bank · ball

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. ball — a great time
  3. spell — letters
  4. court — of law
  5. court — of a king
  6. bank — for money
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. cold — not warm
  9. ball — a dance
  10. spell — magic
  11. content — happy
  12. bark — to shout
  13. board — a committee
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. content — the amount
  16. bank — of a river
  17. court — for sport
  18. board — to get on
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bank — for money
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. spell — a short time

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