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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. content — happy
  3. drill — a practice
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. court — of law
  6. bear — the animal
  7. land — to come down
  8. court — for sport
  9. drill — the tool
  10. court — of a king
  11. rash — a series
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. land — ground
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. rash — hasty
  16. object — an aim
  17. content — the amount
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. object — to protest
  20. drill — army training
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. bear — the animal
  23. pitch — completely
  24. land — a country

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