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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. content — happy
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. pop — to visit
  5. court — for sport
  6. charge — in control
  7. pop — soda
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. clip — for paper
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. court — of law
  13. charge — electricity
  14. pop — music
  15. clip — to cut
  16. charge — a price
  17. ball — a dance
  18. content — the amount
  19. clip — a video
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. court — of a king
  24. date — the fruit

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