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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. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — in geometry
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. march — the month
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. content — the amount
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. swing — music
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. swing — to play on
  10. cell — a phone
  11. season — of the year
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. band — a music group
  15. march — music
  16. band — a ring
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cell — in biology
  19. march — the month
  20. plane — a tool
  21. swing — in golf
  22. content — happy
  23. cold — not warm
  24. season — in sport

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