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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. spell — magic
  3. march — the month
  4. rule — government
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. rule — a law
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. drill — a practice
  9. dip — to sink
  10. spell — letters
  11. drill — the tool
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. tube — a container
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. spell — a short time
  17. march — music
  18. plane — a tool
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. content — the amount
  22. march — the month
  23. drill — army training
  24. tube — the underground

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