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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: cabinet · bore · staff · bark · bat · court · date · stock

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. bore — to tire
  8. court — of a king
  9. court — of law
  10. court — for sport
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bore — to drill
  17. staff — a stick
  18. stock — goods
  19. date — the fruit
  20. stock — shares
  21. staff — employees
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. staff — employees

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