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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cue — for pool
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. court — of law
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. chest — a box
  9. court — for sport
  10. spring — a coil
  11. charge — in control
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — the season
  14. content — happy
  15. scale — size or range
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cue — a hint
  18. charge — a price
  19. content — the amount
  20. scale — in music
  21. court — of a king
  22. cue — a signal
  23. charge — electricity
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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