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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. court — for sport
  4. kid — to tease
  5. face — to point toward
  6. face — to confront
  7. bark — to shout
  8. hand — in cards
  9. suit — in cards
  10. face — part of the head
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. kid — child
  13. court — of law
  14. swing — in golf
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. swing — to play on
  17. suit — to fit
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. swing — music
  20. suit — clothes
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — help
  24. dip — to sink

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