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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 ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. wind — moving air
  4. rash — hasty
  5. fall — to drop
  6. content — happy
  7. wind — moving air
  8. fall — the season
  9. rash — a series
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. roll — a list
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. march — music
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. content — the amount
  16. lie — to recline
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. roll — a cake
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. march — the month
  23. fall — to drop
  24. roll — on a roll

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