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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: calf · ball · wave · swing · tear · chair · court · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. ball — a dance
  4. chair — a leader
  5. court — for sport
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. swing — in golf
  9. court — of a king
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. tear — from crying
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. content — the amount
  15. tear — from crying
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. swing — to play on
  18. ball — a great time
  19. court — of law
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. swing — music
  22. tear — to rip
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. wave — with your hand

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