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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. object — an aim
  3. content — the amount
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mug — a face
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. squash — the sport
  8. mug — a cup
  9. content — happy
  10. object — to protest
  11. scale — in music
  12. scale — size or range
  13. squash — to crush
  14. mug — to rob
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. clip — to cut
  17. court — of law
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — for paper
  20. cold — not warm
  21. court — for sport
  22. object — a thing
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. content — videos and posts

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