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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. chest — of your body
  3. fall — to drop
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. spell — letters
  7. pit — a hole
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. pound — a weight
  10. pit — in a race
  11. court — for sport
  12. chest — a box
  13. court — of law
  14. track — to keep track
  15. spell — magic
  16. track — a song
  17. fall — the season
  18. fall — to drop
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. track — a path
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bark — to shout
  24. spell — a short time

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