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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. court — of a king
  4. fine — all right
  5. pound — a weight
  6. mate — a partner
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. mate — a friend
  9. fine — high quality
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. content — happy
  14. spell — a short time
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. spell — magic
  17. mate — to breed
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. court — of law
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. stem — to come from
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. content — the amount
  24. court — for sport

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