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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. content — happy
  6. scale — in music
  7. march — the month
  8. march — music
  9. chest — of your body
  10. hand — in cards
  11. scale — size or range
  12. content — the amount
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. stand — to bear
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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