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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. march — the month
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. row — a line
  6. row — to paddle
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. march — the month
  10. net — in sport
  11. date — the fruit
  12. shower — to wash
  13. ball — a dance
  14. march — music
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. net — for catching
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. content — the amount
  19. content — happy
  20. net — after costs
  21. shower — rain
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. ball — a round shape

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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