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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. last — to go on
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. court — for sport
  5. net — in sport
  6. present — there
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. court — of a king
  10. present — the time now
  11. last — finally
  12. sharp — clever
  13. present — a gift
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. net — after costs
  17. court — of law
  18. last — final
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. wake — a trail
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. bark — to shout
  24. net — for catching

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