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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. court — of law
  4. row — a line
  5. content — happy
  6. cell — in biology
  7. row — to paddle
  8. prune — to trim
  9. court — for sport
  10. roll — a cake
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. shower — to wash
  17. roll — a list
  18. court — of a king
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. content — the amount
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. prune — to trim
  23. shower — rain
  24. cell — a phone

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