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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 116 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 words: he'll be late again.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. content — happy
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. march — the month
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. snap — to click
  7. last — final
  8. mark — a grade
  9. field — farmland
  10. hand — in cards
  11. content — the amount
  12. suit — in cards
  13. suit — to fit
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. march — the month
  17. march — music
  18. last — finally
  19. suit — clothes
  20. field — for sport
  21. last — to go on
  22. field — a subject
  23. mark — a trace
  24. hand — help

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