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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. chest — of your body
  3. charge — electricity
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. court — for sport
  6. bark — to shout
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. track — to keep track
  9. charge — in control
  10. court — of law
  11. court — of a king
  12. chest — of your body
  13. track — a path
  14. land — ground
  15. charge — a price
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — a line
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. land — a country
  20. track — a song
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. row — to paddle
  23. chest — a box
  24. land — to come down

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