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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. season — in sport
  4. vault — a safe
  5. season — of the year
  6. content — the amount
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. band — a ring
  10. track — to keep track
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. snap — to click
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. court — of a king
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. court — for sport
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. court — of law
  21. track — a song
  22. band — a music group
  23. track — a path
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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