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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. cue — a signal
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. bulb — for light
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. court — of law
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. cue — a hint
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. court — for sport
  15. swing — to play on
  16. swing — in golf
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. swing — music
  19. cue — for pool
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. court — of a king
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. bark — to shout

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