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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. court — of law
  3. court — for sport
  4. spring — the season
  5. content — happy
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. fine — all right
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. spring — of water
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. scale — size or range
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. stand — to bear
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — in music
  17. fine — high quality
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. tube — the underground
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. tube — a container
  22. pitch — completely
  23. court — of a king
  24. spring — a coil

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