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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. march — the month
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. content — happy
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. march — music
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. content — the amount
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. chest — of your body
  13. band — a ring
  14. plane — a tool
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. tube — a container
  17. chest — a box
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — rain
  20. band — a music group
  21. chest — of your body
  22. tube — the underground
  23. march — the month
  24. tube — in a tire

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