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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. object — a thing
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of law
  6. spring — a coil
  7. content — the amount
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. capital — money
  12. court — of a king
  13. charge — in control
  14. object — to protest
  15. object — an aim
  16. ground — the earth
  17. spring — the season
  18. charge — electricity
  19. ground — crushed
  20. capital — a city
  21. spring — of water
  22. ground — a position
  23. charge — a price
  24. wake — a trail

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