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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. snap — to click
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. pit — a hole
  6. content — happy
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. drill — a practice
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. content — the amount
  12. track — a song
  13. row — to paddle
  14. track — to keep track
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. drill — the tool
  17. drill — army training
  18. pit — in a race
  19. march — the month
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. track — a path
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. vault — a safe
  24. row — a line

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