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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: content · cold · bowl · court · bay · land · firm · net

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. land — ground
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. firm — steady
  5. cold — an illness
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — in sport
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. court — for sport
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. net — for catching
  15. content — happy
  16. firm — a company
  17. firm — decided
  18. land — a country
  19. court — of law
  20. content — the amount
  21. court — of a king
  22. land — to come down
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. bay — a part of the sea

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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