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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. tube — a container
  4. court — of law
  5. tube — the underground
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bark — to shout
  12. court — of a king
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. hand — help
  16. chest — of your body
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — in cards
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. wind — moving air
  21. chest — a box
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. chest — of your body
  24. racket — for tennis

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