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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. court — of a king
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. stock — goods
  5. chest — a box
  6. content — happy
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. chest — of your body
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. stock — shares
  13. court — of law
  14. court — for sport
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. net — for catching
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. net — in sport
  20. net — after costs
  21. content — the amount
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. deal — to handle
  24. chest — of your body

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