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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: march · net · track · court · wax · cell · kick · content

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. court — of law
  5. cell — a phone
  6. march — the month
  7. kick — in football
  8. cell — in biology
  9. net — in sport
  10. track — a song
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. track — a path
  13. net — after costs
  14. march — music
  15. net — for catching
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. track — to keep track
  18. court — of a king
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. wax — to grow
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. content — happy
  23. court — for sport
  24. march — the month

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