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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. land — ground
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. pit — in a race
  5. bound — obliged
  6. land — a country
  7. scale — size or range
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. spring — of water
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. net — for catching
  13. bound — tied together
  14. court — of a king
  15. spring — the season
  16. court — for sport
  17. bound — certain
  18. spring — a coil
  19. net — in sport
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. pit — a hole
  22. net — after costs
  23. land — to come down
  24. scale — in music

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