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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. shower — to wash
  4. march — music
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. chair — a leader
  10. content — happy
  11. craft — a skill
  12. pit — a hole
  13. ball — a great time
  14. pit — in a race
  15. ball — a dance
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. content — the amount
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. march — the month
  23. shower — rain
  24. craft — boats

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