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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 120 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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. content — happy
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. court — of a king
  11. bulb — for light
  12. content — the amount
  13. bulb — for light
  14. foot — a measure
  15. court — of law
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — to clutch at straws

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