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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: toast · pit · content · cold · straw · court · mug · charge

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. charge — a price
  3. content — happy
  4. cold — not warm
  5. court — of a king
  6. court — of law
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. mug — a cup
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. pit — in a race
  13. cold — an illness
  14. content — the amount
  15. court — for sport
  16. charge — electricity
  17. toast — bread
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. mug — to rob
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. charge — in control
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. pit — a hole

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