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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 · wake · content · wound · kid · bear · track · rash

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. court — of a king
  4. track — a path
  5. bear — the animal
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bear — the animal
  9. kid — to tease
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. rash — hasty
  12. track — a song
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. content — happy
  15. wake — a trail
  16. rash — a series
  17. court — for sport
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. track — to keep track
  23. kid — child
  24. content — the amount

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