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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 124 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. content — happy
  3. chest — of your body
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. mark — a grade
  7. field — farmland
  8. march — the month
  9. mark — a trace
  10. fine — all right
  11. wound — an injury
  12. march — music
  13. field — a subject
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. content — the amount
  16. fine — high quality
  17. march — the month
  18. chest — a box
  19. field — for sport
  20. rock — a stone
  21. chest — of your body
  22. rock — music
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. rock — to move gently

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