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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. staff — employees
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. court — of a king
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. staff — employees
  8. bound — tied together
  9. content — happy
  10. bound — obliged
  11. bound — certain
  12. game — a match
  13. bulb — for light
  14. content — the amount
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. game — wild animals
  19. rule — government
  20. court — for sport
  21. rule — a law
  22. fork — in a road
  23. court — of law
  24. bulb — for light

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