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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: sharp · rock · spell · pop · cap · hand · racket · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pop — to visit
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. hand — in cards
  6. sharp — clever
  7. spell — letters
  8. cap — a lid
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. hand — help
  12. rock — a stone
  13. content — the amount
  14. pop — music
  15. cap — a hat
  16. pop — soda
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. spell — magic
  20. rock — music
  21. cap — of ice
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. spell — a short time
  24. racket — a loud noise

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