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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bowl · bark · net · date · chair · land · scale · rash

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. land — ground
  4. date — the fruit
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. net — after costs
  8. rash — hasty
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. bark — to shout
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. scale — size or range
  14. land — to come down
  15. rash — a series
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. net — for catching
  18. net — in sport
  19. scale — in music
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. land — a country
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. chair — a leader

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