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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 · bark · stock · band · drill · court · face · spell

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  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. face — to point toward
  2. face — part of the head
  3. band — a ring
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. spell — a short time
  6. drill — a practice
  7. court — for sport
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. face — to confront
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. spell — letters
  12. bark — to shout
  13. drill — the tool
  14. stock — shares
  15. band — a music group
  16. drill — army training
  17. game — a match
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. stock — goods
  20. game — wild animals
  21. spell — magic
  22. court — of law
  23. court — of a king
  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