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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: wound · bark · sharp · spell · toast · season · mark · court

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. spell — letters
  3. wound — an injury
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. spell — magic
  6. court — of law
  7. sharp — clever
  8. season — of the year
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. season — in sport
  11. toast — bread
  12. mark — a trace
  13. spell — a short time
  14. mark — a grade
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. court — of a king
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. court — for sport
  24. bark — to shout

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