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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. bass — the fish
  6. ball — a great time
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bass — low music
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. rest — a break
  11. court — of law
  12. court — for sport
  13. rest — what's left
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. wind — moving air
  16. content — happy
  17. wind — moving air
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. court — of a king
  20. content — the amount
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. rest — what's left

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