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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. content — happy
  4. staff — employees
  5. court — of law
  6. net — after costs
  7. tear — to rip
  8. content — the amount
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. net — in sport
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. court — of a king
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. staff — employees
  21. net — for catching
  22. staff — a stick
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cold — an illness

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