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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. content — happy
  3. degree — from a university
  4. swing — in golf
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. bulb — for light
  8. swing — music
  9. bulb — for light
  10. present — a gift
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. plane — a tool
  14. degree — an amount
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. march — the month
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. swing — to play on
  19. march — music
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. content — the amount
  22. present — there
  23. degree — temperature
  24. present — the time now

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