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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. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. ground — a position
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. court — of law
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. ground — crushed
  9. chest — a box
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. court — of a king
  12. file — a line of people
  13. chest — of your body
  14. rush — hurry
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a document
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. clip — to cut
  20. court — for sport
  21. bark — to shout
  22. chest — of your body
  23. foot — a measure
  24. ground — the earth

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