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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. face — part of the head
  4. game — wild animals
  5. face — to point toward
  6. wound — an injury
  7. court — of a king
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bore — to drill
  10. bore — to tire
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. content — happy
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. game — a match
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — the amount
  18. court — for sport
  19. row — a line
  20. face — to confront
  21. court — of law
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. row — to paddle

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