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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: shower · court · pit · bark · ground · rush · pound · trunk

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. pit — a hole
  3. shower — to wash
  4. pit — in a race
  5. pound — a weight
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. rush — hurry
  10. court — of a king
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. ground — crushed
  13. court — for sport
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. bark — to shout
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. ground — the earth
  23. court — of law
  24. shower — rain

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