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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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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: mark · bat · court · roll · spring · hand · content · temple

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. court — of a king
  3. content — happy
  4. mark — a trace
  5. roll — a list
  6. roll — a cake
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. spring — of water
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. spring — the season
  14. mark — a grade
  15. bat — the animal
  16. court — for sport
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — help
  20. content — the amount
  21. court — of law
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. spring — a coil

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