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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. rash — hasty
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. tear — to rip
  6. spell — magic
  7. content — happy
  8. tear — from crying
  9. charge — a price
  10. spell — a short time
  11. charge — electricity
  12. bulb — for light
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. court — of a king
  16. rash — a series
  17. spell — letters
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. bulb — for light
  21. court — of law
  22. charge — in control
  23. tear — from crying
  24. content — the amount

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