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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 120 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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. capital — money
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. content — happy
  7. bulb — for light
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. capital — a city
  10. content — the amount
  11. march — the month
  12. mark — a grade
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. dip — to sink
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. stand — to bear
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — not warm
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. bulb — for light

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