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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. swing — in golf
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. court — for sport
  6. mark — a grade
  7. content — happy
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. pop — soda
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. ball — a great time
  12. content — the amount
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. pop — music
  16. court — of law
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. bat — the animal
  20. swing — music
  21. swing — to play on
  22. ball — a dance
  23. court — of a king
  24. mark — a trace

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