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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 116 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: court · bark · march · chair · stock · track · bound · cold

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bound — certain
  3. bark — to shout
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. stock — goods
  8. march — the month
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. chair — a leader
  11. track — a song
  12. bound — obliged
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. track — a path
  15. bound — tied together
  16. march — the month
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. track — to keep track
  20. court — of a king
  21. stock — shares
  22. march — music
  23. court — of law
  24. bark — of a tree

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