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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. season — in sport
  3. pop — to visit
  4. spring — a coil
  5. court — for sport
  6. spring — the season
  7. bark — to shout
  8. spell — magic
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. court — of a king
  12. face — part of the head
  13. pop — soda
  14. face — to point toward
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. spell — letters
  18. court — of law
  19. season — of the year
  20. pop — music
  21. spell — a short time
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. spring — of water
  24. season — to add flavour

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