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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 116 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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. tear — from crying
  3. court — of a king
  4. race — humankind
  5. court — for sport
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. net — in sport
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. race — the arms race
  11. club — a group
  12. club — for golf
  13. net — after costs
  14. net — for catching
  15. court — of law
  16. content — the amount
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. race — a contest
  19. tear — from crying
  20. club — for dancing
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. rush — hurry
  23. tear — to rip
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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