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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. pit — in a race
  3. charge — electricity
  4. court — of a king
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. cell — a phone
  8. court — of law
  9. cell — in biology
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. charge — a price
  14. bark — to shout
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. pit — a hole
  17. charge — in control
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — an illness
  20. court — for sport
  21. clip — a video
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bark — of a tree

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