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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bark — to shout
  7. clip — for paper
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. clip — to cut
  11. court — of law
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. clip — a video
  14. kick — in football
  15. court — for sport
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. bore — to drill
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bore — to tire
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — the fish
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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