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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 · leaves · drill · roll · coach · land · court · file

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. file — a tool
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. land — a country
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. court — of a king
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. drill — the tool
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. file — a line of people
  11. land — to come down
  12. file — a document
  13. land — ground
  14. roll — a list
  15. court — for sport
  16. drill — army training
  17. roll — a cake
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. court — of law
  20. bark — to shout
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. drill — a practice
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. leaves — of a tree

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