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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. branch — a division
  4. bark — to shout
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. court — of law
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. capital — money
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. snap — to click
  15. mine — for digging
  16. capital — a city
  17. court — for sport
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. dip — to sink
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. wound — an injury
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. branch — of a tree

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