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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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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: bark · wound · face · nail · chair · content · court · cabinet

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. face — to point toward
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. face — to confront
  7. content — happy
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. chair — a leader
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. court — for sport
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. court — of law
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. face — part of the head
  19. wound — an injury
  20. content — the amount
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. wound — an injury
  23. court — of a king
  24. bark — to shout

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