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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. bulb — for light
  3. degree — temperature
  4. mine — for digging
  5. march — music
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. ground — a position
  8. tube — the underground
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. march — the month
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. ground — crushed
  13. tube — a container
  14. bulb — for light
  15. content — happy
  16. pitch — completely
  17. content — the amount
  18. degree — from a university
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. degree — an amount
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. ground — the earth

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