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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  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. content — the amount
  2. content — happy
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. stock — shares
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. hand — help
  8. snap — to click
  9. stock — goods
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. hand — in cards
  12. sharp — clever
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. wake — a trail
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. court — of a king
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. court — for sport
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. bowl — a football final
  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