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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. court — for sport
  3. court — of a king
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. band — a music group
  6. court — of law
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. snap — to click
  9. land — ground
  10. land — to come down
  11. bark — to shout
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. band — a ring
  14. vault — a safe
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — an illness
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. mouse — the animal

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