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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. content — the amount
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. hand — in cards
  6. court — of a king
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. current — of water
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. scale — size or range
  11. stock — goods
  12. content — happy
  13. scale — in music
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. current — happening now
  16. stock — shares
  17. band — a ring
  18. court — for sport
  19. bat — the animal
  20. court — of law
  21. band — a music group
  22. hand — help
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. current — electric

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