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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: court · last · content · shower · bark · kid · bound · mouse

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — finally
  4. shower — rain
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. content — the amount
  8. court — of a king
  9. kid — child
  10. bound — tied together
  11. bark — to shout
  12. content — happy
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. last — final
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — to tease
  18. court — for sport
  19. bound — certain
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. bound — obliged
  22. court — of law
  23. shower — to wash
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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