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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bat — the animal
  4. can — to be able to
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. court — of law
  7. kick — in football
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. can — a tin
  10. can — a tin
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. content — happy
  14. pitch — completely
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. content — the amount
  22. court — of a king
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bat — for baseball

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