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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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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: mark · race · net · court · game · bark · snap · pass

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. net — for catching
  4. race — the arms race
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. net — in sport
  8. court — for sport
  9. net — after costs
  10. game — a match
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. pass — a permit
  13. bark — to shout
  14. race — humankind
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. court — of law
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. court — of a king
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. game — wild animals
  22. race — a contest
  23. mark — a grade
  24. mark — a trace

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