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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bound — obliged
  4. bore — to tire
  5. content — happy
  6. court — of a king
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. court — for sport
  10. mine — for digging
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. bound — certain
  13. snap — to click
  14. race — the arms race
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. court — of law
  18. race — a contest
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. bound — tied together
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. bore — to drill
  24. race — humankind

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