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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. court — of law
  3. wound — an injury
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bark — to shout
  7. kid — to tease
  8. deal — to handle
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. court — of a king
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. court — for sport
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. kid — child
  18. wake — a trail
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. ball — a dance
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. wound — an injury

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