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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: roll · last · face · bore · content · court · pitcher · spell

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. face — part of the head
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. court — for sport
  5. last — final
  6. bore — to drill
  7. content — the amount
  8. roll — a list
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. last — finally
  14. last — to go on
  15. court — of law
  16. spell — magic
  17. content — happy
  18. face — to confront
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. court — of a king
  21. bore — to tire
  22. spell — a short time
  23. spell — letters
  24. face — to point toward

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