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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. present — there
  3. present — the time now
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. shower — rain
  6. march — the month
  7. lie — to recline
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. saw — the tool
  10. content — the amount
  11. saw — the tool
  12. march — music
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. march — the month
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. shower — to wash
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — the season
  23. present — a gift
  24. fall — to drop

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