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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. court — for sport
  3. stem — to come from
  4. wound — an injury
  5. court — of a king
  6. rash — a series
  7. court — of law
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. shower — to wash
  12. bore — to tire
  13. bark — to shout
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. shower — rain
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. rash — hasty
  20. bore — to drill
  21. wound — an injury
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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