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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  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. arm — part of the body
  2. court — of a king
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. spell — letters
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. court — for sport
  8. drill — the tool
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. court — of law
  14. cold — an illness
  15. spell — magic
  16. drill — a practice
  17. bark — to shout
  18. cold — not warm
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. spell — a short time
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. drill — army training
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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