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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. land — to come down
  4. court — for sport
  5. cell — in biology
  6. land — ground
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bark — to shout
  10. court — of a king
  11. sharp — clever
  12. bear — the animal
  13. cap — a hat
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cap — of ice
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. land — a country
  19. cap — a lid
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. bear — the animal
  23. court — of law
  24. bear — to put up with

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