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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. hand — in cards
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. hand — help
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — in music
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. roll — a cake
  17. branch — a division
  18. scale — size or range
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. roll — a list
  22. bear — the animal
  23. court — for sport
  24. court — of a king

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