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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. mark — a trace
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. bark — to shout
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. board — a committee
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. wound — an injury
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. wound — an injury
  14. kid — child
  15. board — to get on
  16. kid — to tease
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. mark — a grade
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. season — of the year
  21. court — of law
  22. court — of a king
  23. season — in sport
  24. dip — to sink

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