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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 116 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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. spell — magic
  5. content — happy
  6. march — the month
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. spell — letters
  9. cap — a hat
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. wake — a trail
  12. cap — a lid
  13. spell — a short time
  14. march — the month
  15. march — music
  16. pass — a permit
  17. content — the amount
  18. content — videos and posts

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