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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — the month
  3. season — of the year
  4. present — a gift
  5. present — the time now
  6. drill — a practice
  7. present — there
  8. content — happy
  9. content — the amount
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. season — in sport
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bass — low music
  15. chip — for betting
  16. march — music
  17. chip — to eat
  18. drill — army training
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. drill — the tool
  24. content — videos and posts

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