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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. object — an aim
  3. ball — a great time
  4. charge — in control
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. court — of a king
  7. object — to protest
  8. kid — to tease
  9. content — the amount
  10. content — happy
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. hand — in cards
  13. court — for sport
  14. charge — a price
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. charge — electricity
  18. kid — child
  19. ball — a dance
  20. object — a thing
  21. pound — a weight
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. court — of law
  24. pound — for dogs

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