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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — the month
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. mate — a partner
  5. mate — a friend
  6. stem — to come from
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. capital — money
  11. mate — to breed
  12. content — the amount
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. season — of the year
  17. march — music
  18. chair — a leader
  19. content — happy
  20. wound — an injury
  21. season — in sport
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. wound — an injury

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