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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. court — of a king
  3. saw — the tool
  4. court — for sport
  5. content — happy
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. mark — a trace
  8. cap — a hat
  9. dip — to sink
  10. cap — of ice
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. mark — a grade
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. content — the amount
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. prune — to trim
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. court — of law
  21. prune — to trim
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. content — videos and posts

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