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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: current · kid · perch · spring · content · chip · court · land

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. court — of law
  3. spring — a coil
  4. land — to come down
  5. content — happy
  6. current — of water
  7. court — for sport
  8. chip — to eat
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. spring — of water
  13. chip — for betting
  14. court — of a king
  15. current — happening now
  16. perch — the fish
  17. current — electric
  18. spring — the season
  19. land — a country
  20. kid — child
  21. kid — to tease
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. content — the amount

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