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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: ground · bark · hand · bass · game · sharp · club · cabinet

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. club — for golf
  4. club — a group
  5. bass — low music
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. ground — crushed
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. club — for dancing
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. game — wild animals
  15. hand — in cards
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bass — the fish
  18. hand — help
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. sharp — clever
  21. game — a match
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. ground — a position
  24. bass — the instrument

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