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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 116 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: leaves · fork · cold · pitcher · court · racket · kick · bark

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. court — of a king
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. court — of law
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bark — to shout
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. kick — in football
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. cold — an illness
  20. fork — in a road
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. court — for sport
  23. cold — not warm
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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