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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 116 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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. content — the amount
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. court — of law
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. squash — the sport
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cell — in biology
  10. wax — to grow
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. swing — in golf
  13. squash — to crush
  14. content — happy
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. court — of a king
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. swing — music
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. court — for sport
  24. swing — to play on

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