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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. ball — a great time
  3. wound — an injury
  4. court — of a king
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. bark — to shout
  10. row — to paddle
  11. ball — a dance
  12. wound — an injury
  13. court — for sport
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. row — a line
  16. land — ground
  17. land — a country
  18. bulb — for light
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. court — of law
  22. land — to come down
  23. bulb — for light
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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