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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: ruler · court · shower · bark · content · mug · file · rest

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. rest — a break
  3. court — of a king
  4. file — a tool
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. court — of law
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. content — happy
  10. file — a line of people
  11. mug — a face
  12. rest — what's left
  13. shower — to wash
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. bark — to shout
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. mug — a cup
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. shower — rain
  20. content — the amount
  21. mug — to rob
  22. rest — what's left
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. file — a document

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