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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: cell · bark · court · wind · jam · pound · kid · leaves

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. court — for sport
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. cell — a phone
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. wind — moving air
  15. kid — to tease
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. pound — a weight
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. court — of law
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bark — to shout
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. court — of a king

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