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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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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: craft · tear · wake · wave · cell · court · content · ball

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. tear — to rip
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. wake — a trail
  7. court — for sport
  8. cell — in biology
  9. tear — from crying
  10. court — of a king
  11. ball — a dance
  12. craft — boats
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. content — the amount
  15. court — of law
  16. ball — a great time
  17. tear — from crying
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. content — happy
  22. cell — a phone
  23. craft — a skill
  24. wake — before a funeral

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