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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 · degree · arm · content · court · pound · net · ball

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. court — of law
  4. content — the amount
  5. net — after costs
  6. court — of a king
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. net — for catching
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. sharp — clever
  15. pound — a weight
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. degree — from a university
  18. court — for sport
  19. net — in sport
  20. content — happy
  21. degree — an amount
  22. ball — a dance
  23. degree — temperature
  24. pound — to hit hard

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