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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.

Make a worksheet

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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. fine — all right
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. court — for sport
  6. key — the most important part
  7. court — of law
  8. bass — the fish
  9. content — the amount
  10. fine — high quality
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. shower — to wash
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. key — for a lock
  15. content — happy
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bass — low music
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — money
  20. shower — rain
  21. court — of a king
  22. key — in music
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. bowl — a football final

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