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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. ground — the earth
  3. content — happy
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. scale — size or range
  6. stock — goods
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. ground — a position
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. key — for a lock
  13. court — of law
  14. ground — crushed
  15. court — of a king
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. content — the amount
  19. scale — in music
  20. key — the most important part
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. fork — in a road
  23. stock — shares
  24. key — in music

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