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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of a king
  5. swing — music
  6. tube — a container
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bat — the animal
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. swing — to play on
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. sharp — clever
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. tube — the underground
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bark — to shout
  22. swing — in golf
  23. pass — a permit
  24. pass — to spend time

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