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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. content — the amount
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. land — to come down
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. bass — low music
  8. court — of a king
  9. bass — the fish
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. court — of law
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. court — for sport
  16. row — a line
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. land — ground
  19. land — a country
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. vault — a safe
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. row — to paddle

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