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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. court — of law
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. fork — in a road
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. hand — help
  9. content — the amount
  10. content — happy
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. court — of a king
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. chip — for betting
  23. court — for sport
  24. chip — to eat

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