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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bat — the animal
  3. court — of a king
  4. content — the amount
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. fork — in a road
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. mark — a grade
  10. court — of law
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. cold — an illness
  14. court — for sport
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bass — low music
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. content — happy
  19. bass — the fish
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. lie — to recline
  23. mark — a trace
  24. cold — the Cold War

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