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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: bark · court · shower · trunk · squash · content · bank · race

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. bank — of a river
  3. court — for sport
  4. content — happy
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. shower — rain
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. bark — to shout
  11. shower — to wash
  12. race — a contest
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. content — the amount
  15. race — the arms race
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. bank — for money
  19. race — humankind
  20. squash — the sport
  21. court — of a king
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. court — of law
  24. bank — for money

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