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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 124 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. squash — to crush
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. court — of a king
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. court — of law
  8. toast — bread
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. hand — in cards
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. cold — not warm
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bark — to shout
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. squash — the sport
  20. court — for sport
  21. hand — help
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. cold — an illness
  24. arm — part of the body

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