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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. shower — rain
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. mug — to rob
  11. court — of a king
  12. mug — a face
  13. court — of law
  14. bark — to shout
  15. content — happy
  16. wind — moving air
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. content — the amount
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. dip — to sink
  22. mug — a cup
  23. shower — to wash
  24. content — videos and posts

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