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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mouse · leaves · court · swing · pop · file · cold · content

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. cold — not warm
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. content — the amount
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. court — for sport
  9. swing — music
  10. court — of a king
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. swing — to play on
  14. file — a tool
  15. pop — music
  16. pop — soda
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. content — happy
  19. cold — an illness
  20. file — a line of people
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. file — a document
  23. swing — in golf
  24. court — of law

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