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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 120 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: race · foot · board · kid · bass · wake · ground · bark

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. ground — a position
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. foot — a measure
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. kid — child
  9. race — a contest
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — humankind
  12. wake — a trail
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. kid — to tease
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bass — low music
  19. ground — the earth
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. board — to get on
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. ground — crushed
  24. board — a committee

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