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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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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: row · cold · content · hand · bulb · kick · bear · court

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. row — a line
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — to paddle
  9. cold — not warm
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. court — for sport
  12. kick — in football
  13. court — of law
  14. hand — help
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. content — happy
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. bulb — for light
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. bear — the animal
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bulb — for light
  23. content — the amount
  24. cold — an illness

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