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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. court — for sport
  3. prune — to trim
  4. spell — a short time
  5. squash — to crush
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. court — of a king
  9. can — to be able to
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. court — of law
  13. prune — to trim
  14. can — a tin
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. squash — the sport
  17. spell — magic
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a match
  22. content — happy
  23. spell — letters
  24. can — a tin

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