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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. march — the month
  7. last — final
  8. bound — tied together
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. stem — to come from
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — after costs
  13. content — happy
  14. net — for catching
  15. bound — certain
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. march — music
  18. bat — the animal
  19. last — finally
  20. bound — obliged
  21. last — to go on
  22. content — the amount
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. march — the month

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