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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. court — for sport
  3. court — of a king
  4. bat — the animal
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. spell — a short time
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. wind — moving air
  15. ball — a dance
  16. spell — letters
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. content — the amount
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. ball — a great time
  23. spell — magic
  24. court — of law

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