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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 water is too ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. mark — a trace
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. court — of a king
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. content — happy
  7. toast — bread
  8. saw — the tool
  9. court — for sport
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. roll — a cake
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. saw — the tool
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. court — of law
  18. roll — a list
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mark — a grade
  21. cold — an illness
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. toast — the most admired
  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