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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — ground
  4. march — the month
  5. pop — to visit
  6. land — a country
  7. pop — soda
  8. march — music
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. rock — music
  11. lean — to bend
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. march — the month
  14. content — the amount
  15. pop — music
  16. rock — a stone
  17. wake — a trail
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. lean — thin
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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