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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. sharp — clever
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. court — of law
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — for sport
  9. content — happy
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. foot — a measure
  12. game — wild animals
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. wake — a trail
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. content — the amount
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. bark — to shout
  22. stock — goods
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. stock — shares

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