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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: squash · court · toast · content · vault · tear

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. court — of law
  5. tear — to rip
  6. squash — the sport
  7. content — happy
  8. toast — bread
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. content — the amount
  12. vault — a safe
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. court — of a king

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