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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 116 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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  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. court — of a king
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. court — for sport
  5. stand — to bear
  6. game — wild animals
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bore — to tire
  9. game — a match
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — for catching
  12. capital — a city
  13. court — of law
  14. capital — money
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. shower — rain
  17. net — in sport
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. bark — to shout
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. shower — to wash
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. bore — gave birth
  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