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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. bear — the animal
  3. scale — size or range
  4. degree — from a university
  5. content — the amount
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. key — for a lock
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. rush — hurry
  11. bear — the animal
  12. content — happy
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. hand — in cards
  15. degree — temperature
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. key — the most important part
  18. scale — in music
  19. degree — an amount
  20. march — the month
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. hand — help
  23. key — in music
  24. march — music

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