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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. wind — moving air
  3. prune — to trim
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — to wash
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. march — the month
  12. shower — rain
  13. prune — to trim
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. wind — moving air
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. march — music
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. content — the amount
  23. mine — for digging
  24. content — happy

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