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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: game · racket · ground · chest · club · dip · bark · pound

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. chest — of your body
  5. ground — crushed
  6. club — for dancing
  7. dip — to sink
  8. club — for golf
  9. pound — a weight
  10. ground — the earth
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. chest — of your body
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. bark — to shout
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. club — a group
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. ground — a position
  22. chest — a box
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. game — a match

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