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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: bat · rock · wound · rule · bark · vault · roll · racket

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. vault — a safe
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bark — to shout
  11. rule — a law
  12. roll — a list
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. rock — a stone
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. roll — a cake
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. bat — the animal
  24. rule — government

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