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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. court — for sport
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. court — of law
  5. content — happy
  6. drill — the tool
  7. pit — a hole
  8. content — the amount
  9. pit — in a race
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. hand — in cards
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. ball — a great time
  18. hand — help
  19. court — of a king
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. drill — army training
  22. kick — in football
  23. ball — a dance
  24. trunk — of a car

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