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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. court — of a king
  3. last — final
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. last — to go on
  8. stock — goods
  9. court — of law
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. last — finally
  14. bulb — for light
  15. date — the fruit
  16. content — happy
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. court — for sport
  23. stock — shares
  24. content — the amount

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