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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 120 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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. court — of law
  3. lean — thin
  4. bound — obliged
  5. lean — to bend
  6. firm — a company
  7. court — for sport
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. content — the amount
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. court — of a king
  12. capital — money
  13. bound — certain
  14. capital — a city
  15. content — happy
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. perch — the fish
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. firm — decided
  21. bound — tied together
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. kick — in football
  24. lean — to rest against

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