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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. chest — of your body
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. mark — a trace
  7. court — of a king
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. spring — a coil
  10. mark — a grade
  11. court — for sport
  12. chest — a box
  13. court — of law
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. spring — of water
  19. bark — to shout
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. chest — of your body
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. spring — the season
  24. straw — a straw man

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