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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 116 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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. court — of a king
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. dip — to sink
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of law
  7. ground — crushed
  8. rash — a series
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. ground — a position
  11. field — for sport
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. field — farmland
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. branch — a division
  17. field — a subject
  18. kick — in football
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. rash — hasty
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. content — the amount
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. ground — the earth

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