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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. roll — a cake
  3. court — for sport
  4. content — happy
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. fall — the season
  7. spell — a short time
  8. swing — in golf
  9. fall — to drop
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. swing — to play on
  12. swing — music
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. bound — tied together
  15. fall — to drop
  16. roll — a list
  17. content — the amount
  18. snap — to click
  19. bound — obliged
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. spell — magic
  22. bound — certain
  23. court — of law
  24. spell — letters

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