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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. bark — to shout
  3. court — of a king
  4. spring — the season
  5. rash — hasty
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. spring — a coil
  14. court — for sport
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. rash — a series
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. court — of law
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. spring — of water
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. trunk — 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