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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: ball · foot · trunk · bark · file · stand · bat · pop

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. pop — music
  4. ball — a great time
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bark — to shout
  8. file — a document
  9. ball — a dance
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. pop — soda
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. stand — to bear
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. pop — to visit
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a tool
  21. foot — a measure
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. ball — a round shape

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