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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 116 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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. rash — a series
  5. rash — hasty
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. court — for sport
  9. court — of a king
  10. swing — in golf
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. swing — to play on
  13. track — to keep track
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. key — the most important part
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. sharp — clever
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. key — for a lock
  20. swing — music
  21. court — of law
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. key — in music
  24. track — a song

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