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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. content — the amount
  4. drill — a practice
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — the animal
  7. drill — the tool
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. content — happy
  11. cell — in biology
  12. court — for sport
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. row — a line
  16. cell — a phone
  17. net — after costs
  18. row — to paddle
  19. net — in sport
  20. drill — army training
  21. court — of a king
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. court — of law

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