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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: content · trunk · mine · court · pitcher · roll · nail · mug

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. content — the amount
  4. court — of law
  5. mug — a cup
  6. roll — a list
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. roll — a cake
  11. mug — a face
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. mug — to rob
  18. court — of a king
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. court — for sport
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — for digging

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