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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 120 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. foot — a measure
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. march — music
  5. craft — boats
  6. content — the amount
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. craft — a skill
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. march — the month
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. march — the month

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