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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 120 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. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. ball — a dance
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. court — for sport
  5. sharp — clever
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rule — a law
  8. content — the amount
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. spell — magic
  11. wound — an injury
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. court — of law
  15. spell — a short time
  16. spell — letters
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. pound — a weight
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. content — happy
  23. rule — government
  24. court — of a king

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