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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 120 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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. court — of a king
  3. cap — of ice
  4. spring — of water
  5. court — for sport
  6. chest — a box
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. bark — to shout
  9. chest — of your body
  10. court — of law
  11. wound — an injury
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wake — a trail
  14. spring — a coil
  15. charge — in control
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. charge — electricity
  18. cap — a lid
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cap — a hat
  23. charge — a price
  24. spring — the season

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