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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: cold · kid · bark · court · calf · rush · jam · fall

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. court — for sport
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. cold — an illness
  10. rush — hurry
  11. court — of a king
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. fall — to drop
  14. kid — to tease
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. cold — not warm
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. fall — the season
  19. court — of law
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. kid — child
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. calf — a young animal

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