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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. rock — music
  3. court — of a king
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — the animal
  6. pit — a hole
  7. present — there
  8. fork — in a road
  9. present — a gift
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. pit — in a race
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. court — of law
  14. game — a match
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bark — to shout
  17. rock — a stone
  18. game — wild animals
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. court — for sport
  21. present — the time now
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. fork — to eat with

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