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

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. spring — a coil
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. tube — a container
  5. spring — the season
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. file — a tool
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. track — a song
  10. file — a document
  11. tube — the underground
  12. court — of a king
  13. court — of law
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. track — to keep track
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. file — a line of people
  21. court — for sport
  22. spring — of water
  23. track — a path
  24. bark — to shout

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