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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: rash · court · cell · bound · bat · pop · bowl · content

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. court — of a king
  3. rash — a series
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. bound — certain
  7. pop — music
  8. court — of law
  9. bound — tied together
  10. pop — soda
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — happy
  15. rash — hasty
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. pop — to visit
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. content — the amount
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. court — for sport
  22. bound — obliged
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cell — in biology

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