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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  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. pitcher — a jug
  2. wound — an injury
  3. mate — a partner
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. march — music
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. face — part of the head
  8. mate — a friend
  9. face — to confront
  10. march — the month
  11. wound — an injury
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. face — to point toward
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. content — happy
  16. content — the amount
  17. mate — to breed
  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