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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. court — for sport
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bound — certain
  7. field — farmland
  8. bound — obliged
  9. bear — the animal
  10. swing — music
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. swing — in golf
  13. current — of water
  14. bark — to shout
  15. court — of law
  16. current — electric
  17. ball — a great time
  18. ball — a dance
  19. bound — tied together
  20. court — of a king
  21. field — for sport
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. field — a subject
  24. current — happening now

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