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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 116 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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. court — for sport
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. rest — what's left
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. tube — the underground
  9. cold — not warm
  10. mark — a grade
  11. mark — a trace
  12. tube — a container
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. court — of law
  16. squash — the sport
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. rest — a break
  19. bark — to shout
  20. squash — to crush
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. cold — an illness
  23. rest — what's left
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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