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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. charge — electricity
  3. charge — a price
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. file — a tool
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. bark — to shout
  8. file — a line of people
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. face — part of the head
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. file — a document
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. face — to confront
  15. court — of law
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. spring — a coil
  18. court — for sport
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. spring — the season
  22. charge — in control
  23. spring — of water
  24. face — to point toward

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