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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: court · temple · shower · content · perch · spell · chip · pit

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. court — for sport
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. perch — the fish
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. spell — letters
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. shower — rain
  12. content — the amount
  13. chip — for betting
  14. spell — magic
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. spell — a short time
  17. shower — to wash
  18. pit — a hole
  19. chip — to eat
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. court — of a king
  22. court — of law
  23. pit — in a race
  24. perch — for a bird

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