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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. sharp — clever
  4. saw — the tool
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. chest — of your body
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. bark — to shout
  9. toast — bread
  10. court — of a king
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. vault — a safe
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. chest — of your body
  16. court — for sport
  17. saw — the tool
  18. court — of law
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. chest — a box
  24. bark — 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