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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. wind — moving air
  7. court — of a king
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. mate — a partner
  10. bark — to shout
  11. game — wild animals
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. court — of law
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. branch — a division
  16. mate — to breed
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. wind — moving air
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. chip — for betting
  22. game — a match
  23. chip — to eat
  24. court — for sport

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