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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. content — happy
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. rock — music
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. net — in sport
  10. present — a gift
  11. mine — for digging
  12. present — the time now
  13. net — after costs
  14. march — the month
  15. march — the month
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. prune — to trim
  18. rock — a stone
  19. net — for catching
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. content — the amount
  22. prune — to trim
  23. pitch — completely
  24. march — music

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