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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. mate — a friend
  3. bark — to shout
  4. court — of law
  5. court — for sport
  6. pop — soda
  7. hand — in cards
  8. pop — to visit
  9. object — a thing
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. object — an aim
  12. mate — a partner
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. kid — to tease
  15. mate — to breed
  16. capital — money
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. pop — music
  19. court — of a king
  20. kid — child
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. capital — a city
  23. object — to protest
  24. bark — of a tree

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