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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 120 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: ground · spring · court · race · bark · cabinet · rest · arm

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. bark — to shout
  3. rest — a break
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. race — humankind
  6. spring — a coil
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — a position
  10. court — of a king
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. spring — of water
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. race — the arms race
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. ground — crushed
  17. court — of law
  18. spring — the season
  19. court — for sport
  20. rest — what's left
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. rest — what's left
  23. race — a contest
  24. arm — a part of something

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