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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 120 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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. court — for sport
  5. squash — the sport
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. court — of a king
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. stem — to come from
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. squash — to crush
  14. row — a line
  15. row — to paddle
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. capital — money
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. pit — a hole
  20. content — the amount
  21. capital — a city
  22. court — of law
  23. pit — in a race
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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