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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. bark — to shout
  3. mine — for digging
  4. court — of a king
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. march — the month
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. march — music
  11. bear — the animal
  12. mate — a friend
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. march — the month
  18. rush — hurry
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. mate — a partner
  21. cold — not warm
  22. court — for sport
  23. bear — the animal
  24. mate — to breed

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