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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — the amount
  3. bulb — for light
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. kid — to tease
  6. court — for sport
  7. key — in music
  8. net — in sport
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. net — for catching
  11. key — the most important part
  12. kid — child
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. race — the arms race
  16. bulb — for light
  17. court — of a king
  18. court — of law
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. race — a contest
  21. net — after costs
  22. key — for a lock
  23. race — humankind
  24. content — videos and posts

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