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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. firm — a company
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. cell — a phone
  6. wound — an injury
  7. court — of law
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. court — for sport
  10. cell — in biology
  11. wound — an injury
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. march — music
  16. firm — decided
  17. rash — a series
  18. court — of a king
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. bark — to shout
  21. firm — steady
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. march — the month
  24. march — the month

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