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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: cue · court · bore · wave · pitcher · content · temple · press

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. court — of a king
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. bore — to tire
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. bore — to drill
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. cue — a hint
  12. cue — a signal
  13. content — the amount
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. press — a publisher
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. press — to push
  20. cue — for pool
  21. press — newspapers
  22. court — for sport
  23. court — of law
  24. content — videos and posts

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