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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: content · cap · bay · shower · court · bat · kick · squash

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. court — for sport
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. squash — to crush
  6. cap — of ice
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. court — of law
  9. content — happy
  10. court — of a king
  11. kick — in football
  12. shower — to wash
  13. content — the amount
  14. cap — a hat
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. squash — the sport
  20. cap — a lid
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. kick — a thrill

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