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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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468
Word bank
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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. march — the month
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. content — happy
  9. content — the amount
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. track — a song
  12. march — the month
  13. wound — an injury
  14. track — a path
  15. row — a line
  16. land — ground
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. land — a country
  19. wound — an injury
  20. track — to keep track
  21. march — music
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. row — to paddle
  24. arm — part of the body

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