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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ruler · cell · court · game · chest · bark

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. bark — to shout
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — a phone
  6. chest — of your body
  7. game — wild animals
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. court — of a king
  12. court — of law
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. chest — a box
  16. game — a match
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. cell — in biology

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