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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. toast — bread
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. clip — to cut
  6. court — for sport
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. content — happy
  9. court — of a king
  10. land — to come down
  11. land — a country
  12. clip — for paper
  13. date — the fruit
  14. stand — to bear
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. clip — a video
  18. court — of law
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — a coil
  22. content — the amount
  23. spring — the season
  24. land — ground

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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