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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 116 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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. court — of a king
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. court — for sport
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. plane — a tool
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. pop — to visit
  11. file — a tool
  12. court — of law
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pop — music
  15. bark — to shout
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. file — a document
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. file — a line of people
  22. pound — a weight
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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