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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. court — for sport
  3. content — happy
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. court — of a king
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cell — a phone
  8. kid — to tease
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. ground — the earth
  11. present — a gift
  12. ground — crushed
  13. ground — a position
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. present — there
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. kid — child
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. content — the amount
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. present — the time now
  24. coach — a trainer

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