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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. court — of law
  3. saw — the tool
  4. court — for sport
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. chest — of your body
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. shower — to wash
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bark — to shout
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. mine — for digging
  18. chest — a box
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. saw — the tool
  22. shower — rain
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. court — of a king

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