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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: game · content · plane · squash · cell · court · wound · present

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  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. cell — in a prison
  2. present — a gift
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. court — of a king
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. content — the amount
  8. wound — an injury
  9. squash — the sport
  10. court — for sport
  11. squash — to crush
  12. cell — in biology
  13. game — a match
  14. content — happy
  15. wound — an injury
  16. present — the time now
  17. game — wild animals
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. plane — a tool
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. cell — a phone
  22. present — there
  23. plane — an aircraft
  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