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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. chair — a leader
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. court — for sport
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. saw — the tool
  14. court — of a king
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. court — of law
  17. scale — in music
  18. bark — to shout
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. vault — a safe
  21. scale — size or range
  22. saw — the tool
  23. pound — a weight
  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