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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: game · bay · chair · net · court · race · ball · content

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. game — a match
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. court — of law
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. race — humankind
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. content — happy
  13. ball — a dance
  14. net — after costs
  15. ball — a great time
  16. court — of a king
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — for catching
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. chair — a leader
  21. content — the amount
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. race — a contest
  24. race — the arms race

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