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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. field — farmland
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. net — after costs
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. march — music
  10. net — in sport
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. craft — a skill
  13. scale — size or range
  14. scale — in music
  15. wake — a trail
  16. field — a subject
  17. craft — boats
  18. content — happy
  19. field — for sport
  20. net — for catching
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. march — the month
  24. content — the amount

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