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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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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: content · cell · hand · dip · court · pound · tear · bat

  1. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. court — for sport
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. dip — to sink
  7. pound — a weight
  8. court — of law
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. court — of a king
  11. hand — in cards
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. cell — a phone
  14. tear — to rip
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. hand — help
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bat — the animal
  19. cell — in biology
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. content — happy
  24. tear — from crying

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