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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. pass — a permit
  4. rash — hasty
  5. hand — help
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. rash — a series
  9. hand — in cards
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. snap — to click
  15. court — of a king
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. bark — to shout
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. cold — an illness
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. cold — not warm
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. court — of law
  24. bark — of a tree

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