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

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. content — happy
  4. court — of law
  5. mark — a grade
  6. rash — hasty
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. last — final
  11. band — a music group
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. rash — a series
  19. mark — a trace
  20. last — finally
  21. content — the amount
  22. band — a ring
  23. court — of a king
  24. last — to go on

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