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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: pass · court · hand · squash · club · shower · bound · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. shower — rain
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. bound — certain
  5. bound — tied together
  6. hand — help
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. club — a group
  9. squash — to crush
  10. court — of a king
  11. shower — to wash
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — in cards
  14. court — for sport
  15. pass — a permit
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. content — the amount
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. club — for golf
  20. squash — the sport
  21. court — of law
  22. club — for dancing
  23. bound — obliged
  24. squash — the vegetable

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