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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. fine — high quality
  3. staff — a stick
  4. ground — a position
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. ground — the earth
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. court — of law
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. staff — employees
  14. ground — crushed
  15. mine — for digging
  16. content — the amount
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. court — of a king
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. dip — to sink
  21. court — for sport
  22. fine — all right
  23. staff — employees
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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