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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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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: content · court · pitcher · perch · pound · kick · bear · row

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. content — happy
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. content — the amount
  6. court — of law
  7. court — for sport
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. perch — the fish
  13. kick — in football
  14. court — of a king
  15. row — a line
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. row — to paddle
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bear — the animal
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. pound — a weight

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