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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: squash · content · cell · march · bass · court · leaves · ground

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. march — music
  3. squash — to crush
  4. ground — a position
  5. squash — the sport
  6. bass — low music
  7. court — of law
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. ground — crushed
  10. cell — a phone
  11. court — for sport
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. march — the month
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. ground — the earth
  18. court — of a king
  19. content — the amount
  20. march — the month
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. bass — the fish
  23. cell — in biology
  24. leaves — lets stay

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