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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. sharp — clever
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. spring — the season
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. ball — a great time
  10. march — the month
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. march — music
  13. bound — certain
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — tied together
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. swing — to play on
  19. march — the month
  20. spring — of water
  21. swing — music
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. swing — in golf
  24. bark — to shout

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