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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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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: cabinet · plane · pit · content · court · cold

  1. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. court — of law
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. content — happy
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. plane — a tool
  10. cold — an illness
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. cold — not warm
  13. content — the amount
  14. court — of a king
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. court — for sport
  17. pit — in a race
  18. pit — a hole

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