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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. net — in sport
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. press — newspapers
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. net — after costs
  11. press — a publisher
  12. net — for catching
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. court — of a king
  15. press — to push
  16. content — the amount
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. content — videos and posts

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