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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: plane · race · mine · court · squash · can · kick · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. squash — the sport
  3. court — of law
  4. plane — a tool
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. can — a tin
  7. court — for sport
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mine — for digging
  14. court — of a king
  15. kick — in football
  16. can — a tin
  17. content — the amount
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. race — the arms race
  20. can — to be able to
  21. squash — to crush
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — humankind
  24. plane — an aircraft

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