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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. content — happy
  3. court — of law
  4. face — to point toward
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. face — to confront
  7. face — part of the head
  8. lean — thin
  9. content — the amount
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — goods
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — in sport
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. court — for sport
  21. lean — to bend
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. net — after costs

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