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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — of law
  3. rock — a stone
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. scale — size or range
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bark — to shout
  19. court — for sport
  20. chest — a box
  21. chest — of your body
  22. scale — in music
  23. rock — music
  24. mouse — the animal

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