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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 116 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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. capital — money
  5. net — for catching
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. wound — an injury
  8. net — after costs
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. net — in sport
  11. bark — to shout
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. kid — to tease
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. wound — an injury
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. pitch — completely
  20. capital — a city
  21. vault — a safe
  22. kid — child
  23. court — for sport
  24. court — of law

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