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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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Word bank
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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: bulb · court · cap · sharp · clip · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. content — the amount
  4. cap — of ice
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. court — of a king
  7. bulb — for light
  8. sharp — clever
  9. court — of law
  10. court — for sport
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — a video
  13. cap — a hat
  14. bulb — for light
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. clip — for paper
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. cap — a lid

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