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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. swing — to play on
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. swing — in golf
  5. march — the month
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. swing — music
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. march — music
  10. content — happy
  11. bore — to tire
  12. content — the amount
  13. wound — an injury
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. mine — for digging
  19. bore — to drill
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. wound — an injury
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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