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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. hand — in cards
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. content — happy
  8. march — the month
  9. hand — help
  10. content — the amount
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. court — of a king
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. scale — size or range
  17. pitch — completely
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. scale — in music
  20. march — the month
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. court — of law
  24. march — music

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