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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. ball — a great time
  3. ball — a dance
  4. content — happy
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. squash — the sport
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. march — music
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. prune — to trim
  17. march — the month
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. bat — the animal
  20. march — the month
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. squash — to crush
  24. prune — to trim

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