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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. content — the amount
  3. court — for sport
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. court — of a king
  6. net — after costs
  7. content — happy
  8. cap — a lid
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. cap — a hat
  11. net — in sport
  12. bulb — for light
  13. net — for catching
  14. cap — of ice
  15. bulb — for light
  16. mark — a grade
  17. court — of law
  18. mark — a trace

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