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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. game — a match
  3. court — of law
  4. vault — a safe
  5. snap — to click
  6. court — of a king
  7. content — the amount
  8. game — wild animals
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. content — happy
  15. court — for sport
  16. prune — to trim
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. dip — to sink
  22. kid — to tease
  23. prune — to trim
  24. kid — child

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