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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 120 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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. court — for sport
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. net — for catching
  6. shower — to wash
  7. perch — the fish
  8. spring — the season
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. mate — a partner
  11. court — of a king
  12. net — after costs
  13. shower — rain
  14. bark — to shout
  15. court — of law
  16. net — in sport
  17. spring — a coil
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. spring — of water
  20. mate — a friend
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. mate — to breed
  24. tear — from crying

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