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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: mine · wake · bark · chest · rest · leaves · bat · court

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. chest — of your body
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. court — of a king
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. rest — what's left
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. court — for sport
  12. bat — the animal
  13. wake — a trail
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. mine — for digging
  17. court — of law
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rest — a break
  24. bat — in an idiom

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