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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. bark — to shout
  3. court — of law
  4. season — in sport
  5. mine — for digging
  6. court — of a king
  7. tear — from crying
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. wound — an injury
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. tear — to rip
  13. rash — hasty
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. court — for sport
  18. tear — from crying
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. season — of the year
  24. wound — an injury

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