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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. bound — tied together
  5. hand — help
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bound — obliged
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. content — the amount
  13. prune — to trim
  14. court — for sport
  15. court — of a king
  16. wake — a trail
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. bound — certain
  22. court — of law
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. leaves — lets stay

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