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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. cell — in biology
  3. court — for sport
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. field — a subject
  8. court — of a king
  9. bark — to shout
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. cell — a phone
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. pound — a weight
  16. bulb — for light
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. field — for sport
  19. court — of law
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. spring — the season
  22. bulb — for light
  23. field — farmland
  24. spring — of water

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