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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: pop · arm · chest · pitcher · wave · content · court · band

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of law
  6. pop — music
  7. pop — to visit
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. band — a ring
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. court — of a king
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. chest — a box
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. pop — soda
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — of your body
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. band — a music group
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. content — the amount
  24. wave — of the sea

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