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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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. rush — hurry
  4. fall — the season
  5. wind — moving air
  6. land — a country
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. land — to come down
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. land — ground
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. bark — to shout
  17. court — for sport
  18. wind — moving air
  19. kick — in football
  20. court — of law
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. mouse — for a computer

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