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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: content · march · row · wind · court · cell

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. march — the month
  3. cell — in biology
  4. court — of a king
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. court — for sport
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — a line
  9. march — music
  10. cell — a phone
  11. content — happy
  12. wind — moving air
  13. row — to paddle
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. content — the amount
  17. march — the month
  18. court — of law

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