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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. content — happy
  3. pound — a weight
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. spell — magic
  6. ground — the earth
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. capital — money
  9. spell — a short time
  10. wake — a trail
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. march — the month
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. march — music
  15. ground — crushed
  16. content — the amount
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. spell — letters
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. capital — a city
  24. ground — a position

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