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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. lie — to recline
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. drill — a practice
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. spring — a coil
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. court — of a king
  13. spring — the season
  14. wound — an injury
  15. spring — of water
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. court — for sport
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. drill — the tool
  22. drill — army training
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. court — of law

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