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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: land · mate · content · court · arm · hand · bass · rush

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. court — of a king
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. land — a country
  8. land — to come down
  9. bass — low music
  10. mate — to breed
  11. rush — hurry
  12. court — for sport
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. land — ground
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. mate — a partner
  17. court — of law
  18. mate — a friend
  19. content — the amount
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. hand — help
  24. bass — the fish

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