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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. court — of a king
  3. game — wild animals
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. pitch — completely
  7. date — the fruit
  8. ball — a great time
  9. row — to paddle
  10. ball — a dance
  11. court — for sport
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. game — a match
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. row — a line
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. content — happy
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. wind — moving air
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. court — of law
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. content — the amount
  24. wind — to turn a key

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