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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. court — of a king
  5. bark — to shout
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. swing — to play on
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. court — of law
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. swing — music
  13. ground — a position
  14. court — for sport
  15. date — the fruit
  16. ground — the earth
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. kick — in football
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. swing — in golf

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