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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: stem · fine · court · cue · cold · game · content · can

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. game — a match
  3. cue — a hint
  4. can — to be able to
  5. court — for sport
  6. cue — for pool
  7. content — the amount
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. court — of a king
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. content — happy
  12. cold — not warm
  13. fine — high quality
  14. cold — an illness
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. fine — all right
  17. can — a tin
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. game — wild animals
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. court — of law
  23. cue — a signal
  24. stem — to come from

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