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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. bark — to shout
  12. court — of a king
  13. cell — in biology
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. cell — a phone
  16. mine — for digging
  17. row — a line
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. bat — the animal
  22. lie — to recline
  23. row — to paddle
  24. court — of law

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