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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: mouse · rule · chest · content · chair · date · wave · court

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. court — of a king
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. date — the fruit
  12. rule — a law
  13. rule — government
  14. chest — a box
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. court — of law
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. content — the amount
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. court — for sport
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. chair — a leader
  24. rule — to rule out

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