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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 116 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: bowl · content · rule · swing · kid · pitch · court · pop

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. court — for sport
  3. swing — to play on
  4. pop — music
  5. content — happy
  6. court — of law
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. kid — to tease
  10. court — of a king
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. pitch — completely
  14. swing — in golf
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. content — the amount
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. kid — child
  19. pop — soda
  20. pop — to visit
  21. swing — music
  22. rule — a law
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. rule — government

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