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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: bark · dip · mate · court · ground · firm · bat · bound

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. firm — steady
  3. ground — crushed
  4. mate — a friend
  5. mate — a partner
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — to shout
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. court — for sport
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. ground — the earth
  12. court — of law
  13. dip — to sink
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — certain
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. firm — decided
  18. court — of a king
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. bat — the animal
  21. mate — to breed
  22. bound — tied together
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. ground — a position

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