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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. court — for sport
  4. wound — an injury
  5. content — the amount
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. court — of law
  8. content — happy
  9. chair — a leader
  10. firm — a company
  11. wound — an injury
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. dip — to sink
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. firm — decided
  19. firm — steady
  20. court — of a king
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. scale — in music
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. scale — size or range

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