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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: bass · ground · leaves · net · bark · cue · hand · game

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. hand — help
  3. cue — a hint
  4. ground — a position
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. net — in sport
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. hand — in cards
  9. cue — a signal
  10. game — wild animals
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. bark — to shout
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. net — for catching
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. ground — crushed
  19. cue — for pool
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. game — a match
  22. bass — the fish
  23. ground — the earth
  24. net — after costs

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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