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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. file — a tool
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. file — a document
  5. key — the most important part
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. key — for a lock
  9. bark — to shout
  10. wound — an injury
  11. roll — a list
  12. roll — a cake
  13. court — for sport
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. court — of law
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. pitch — completely
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. stem — to come from
  22. key — in music
  23. file — a line of people
  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