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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. court — of a king
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. fall — to drop
  5. chest — of your body
  6. staff — employees
  7. staff — a stick
  8. fall — the season
  9. root — of a word
  10. court — of law
  11. swing — in golf
  12. hand — help
  13. staff — employees
  14. bark — to shout
  15. hand — in cards
  16. chest — of your body
  17. fall — to drop
  18. chest — a box
  19. swing — music
  20. court — for sport
  21. root — of a plant
  22. swing — to play on
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. root — the cause

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