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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — for sport
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. land — to come down
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. content — the amount
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. content — happy
  11. rush — hurry
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. land — a country
  15. present — a gift
  16. fork — in a road
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. land — ground
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. court — of law
  21. present — there
  22. present — the time now
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — a jug

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