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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. march — the month
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. track — a path
  6. track — to keep track
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. perch — the fish
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. content — the amount
  11. march — the month
  12. sharp — clever
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. track — a song
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — a law
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. march — music

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