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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. content — happy
  3. court — for sport
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. court — of law
  6. perch — the fish
  7. chip — for betting
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. squash — the sport
  10. squash — to crush
  11. rock — a stone
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. court — of a king
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. date — the fruit
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. chip — to eat
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. content — the amount

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