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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. march — music
  3. cold — not warm
  4. rock — a stone
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. march — the month
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. tube — a container
  12. tube — the underground
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. spring — of water
  15. spring — a coil
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. spring — the season
  18. content — the amount
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. march — the month
  22. rock — music
  23. content — happy
  24. content — videos and posts

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