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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 120 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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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: game · wave · fall · court · file · bark · clip · rest

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. court — of a king
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — what's left
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. file — a line of people
  7. clip — to cut
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. rest — a break
  10. bark — to shout
  11. fall — the season
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. file — a tool
  14. clip — a video
  15. court — of law
  16. court — for sport
  17. clip — for paper
  18. file — a document
  19. game — a match
  20. game — wild animals
  21. fall — to drop
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. fall — to drop

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