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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: court · game · content · squash · chip · cold · perch · lie

  1. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  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. chip — in a computer
  2. content — the amount
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. perch — the fish
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a match
  7. cold — an illness
  8. lie — to recline
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. squash — the sport
  12. court — of a king
  13. squash — to crush
  14. cold — not warm
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. content — happy
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. chip — to eat
  21. chip — for betting
  22. court — for sport
  23. squash — the vegetable
  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