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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: jam · wound · bark · squash · kid · cold · plane · court

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. kid — child
  5. court — of a king
  6. wound — an injury
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. court — of law
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — to tease
  14. cold — not warm
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. court — for sport
  17. wound — an injury
  18. plane — a tool
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. squash — to crush
  22. squash — the sport
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. plane — an aircraft

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