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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. cap — a hat
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. kid — child
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. scale — in music
  8. content — happy
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. cap — of ice
  11. pitch — completely
  12. cap — a lid
  13. kid — to tease
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. court — of a king
  16. content — the amount
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. court — of law
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. court — for sport
  23. scale — size or range
  24. content — videos and posts

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