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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 116 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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. ball — a dance
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. march — music
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. file — a tool
  7. content — happy
  8. ball — a great time
  9. branch — a division
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. fine — high quality
  12. march — the month
  13. sharp — clever
  14. capital — money
  15. file — a line of people
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. file — a document
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. capital — a city
  22. content — the amount
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. march — the month

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