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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. court — of a king
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. file — a line of people
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. rash — a series
  7. court — for sport
  8. rash — hasty
  9. file — a document
  10. court — of law
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. roll — a list
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. file — a tool
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. roll — a cake
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. content — the amount
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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