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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 116 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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a ring
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. court — of law
  6. content — the amount
  7. court — for sport
  8. cap — a lid
  9. sharp — clever
  10. bear — the animal
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. spell — magic
  14. spell — a short time
  15. kick — in football
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. cap — of ice
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. cap — a hat
  21. bear — the animal
  22. court — of a king
  23. spell — letters
  24. kick — with a leg

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