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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: content · club · spring · face · chair · kid · court · stock

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  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. spring — the season
  2. club — a group
  3. stock — shares
  4. content — the amount
  5. kid — to tease
  6. spring — a coil
  7. face — to point toward
  8. face — to confront
  9. stock — goods
  10. chair — a leader
  11. spring — of water
  12. kid — child
  13. club — for dancing
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. court — of a king
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — happy
  18. court — for sport
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. club — for golf
  21. face — part of the head
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  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