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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: court · last · cold · dip · content · kick · bass · hand

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bass — the fish
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. last — finally
  6. bass — low music
  7. content — the amount
  8. last — final
  9. hand — help
  10. cold — not warm
  11. kick — in football
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. court — of a king
  15. dip — to sink
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. court — for sport
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. last — to go on
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. hand — in cards
  23. content — happy
  24. court — of law

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