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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. court — of law
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. wake — a trail
  5. craft — boats
  6. craft — a skill
  7. row — to paddle
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. pitch — completely
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mine — for digging
  14. court — for sport
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. row — a line
  20. court — of a king
  21. bat — the animal
  22. content — happy
  23. content — the amount
  24. pitch — a sports field

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