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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. fall — the season
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. march — the month
  5. march — the month
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. content — happy
  8. ball — a great time
  9. cell — a phone
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. land — ground
  12. land — a country
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — to drop
  17. shower — rain
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. cell — in biology
  21. ball — a dance
  22. march — music
  23. land — to come down
  24. shower — to wash

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