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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. court — of law
  7. court — for sport
  8. wound — an injury
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. tube — a container
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. kick — in football
  13. court — of a king
  14. object — an aim
  15. cold — not warm
  16. object — to protest
  17. scale — size or range
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. object — a thing
  20. cold — an illness
  21. tube — the underground
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. scale — in music
  24. cold — the Cold War

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