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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bore — to tire
  3. field — for sport
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. press — to push
  6. press — a publisher
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. court — of a king
  11. bark — to shout
  12. court — for sport
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. cold — an illness
  15. press — newspapers
  16. field — farmland
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. cold — not warm
  21. field — a subject
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. court — of law
  24. bore — to drill

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