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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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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 · trunk · bat · squash · deal · fork · court · last

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. last — final
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. court — for sport
  8. bat — the animal
  9. last — finally
  10. deal — to handle
  11. court — of a king
  12. bark — to shout
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. last — to go on
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. squash — the sport
  19. court — of law
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. fork — in a road
  22. squash — to crush
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. fork — a garden tool

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