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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. content — the amount
  3. mark — a trace
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. court — of law
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mark — a grade
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. board — a committee
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. content — happy
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bat — the animal
  19. board — to get on
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. court — of a king
  22. mine — for digging
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. court — for sport

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