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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — for sport
  3. ground — crushed
  4. content — happy
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. pop — soda
  7. content — the amount
  8. foot — a measure
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. court — of law
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. ground — a position
  13. pop — to visit
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — the fruit
  17. capital — a city
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. stand — to bear
  21. ground — the earth
  22. pop — music
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a big letter

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