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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. press — to push
  3. bark — to shout
  4. mug — a face
  5. spring — of water
  6. press — newspapers
  7. spring — the season
  8. court — for sport
  9. mug — to rob
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. spring — a coil
  12. court — of law
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — an illness
  15. mug — a cup
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. press — a publisher

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