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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: sharp · bark · hand · net · kid · leaves · staff · court

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. kid — child
  3. net — in sport
  4. hand — help
  5. net — for catching
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. court — of law
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. court — of a king
  10. court — for sport
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. staff — employees
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. staff — employees
  15. hand — in cards
  16. staff — a stick
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. kid — to tease
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. bark — to shout
  21. net — after costs
  22. sharp — clever
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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