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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. club — for dancing
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. squash — to crush
  5. drill — army training
  6. club — for golf
  7. court — of a king
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. court — for sport
  10. club — a group
  11. content — happy
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. game — wild animals
  14. content — the amount
  15. drill — a practice
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. kid — to tease
  18. court — of law
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. kid — child
  21. game — a match
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. squash — the sport
  24. bowl — a football final

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