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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. court — of a king
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. club — a group
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. court — for sport
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. content — the amount
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — to shout
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. club — for golf
  21. content — happy
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. court — of law
  24. ruler — a monarch

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