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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. court — of a king
  3. file — a line of people
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. court — of law
  7. mark — a grade
  8. game — a match
  9. pit — a hole
  10. bark — to shout
  11. current — of water
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. mark — a trace
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. current — electric
  18. court — for sport
  19. game — wild animals
  20. current — happening now
  21. file — a document
  22. wake — a trail
  23. pit — in a race
  24. file — a tool

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