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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 assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. content — the amount
  3. cell — in biology
  4. mark — a trace
  5. swing — in golf
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. last — to go on
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. swing — music
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. last — finally
  12. swing — to play on
  13. mark — a grade
  14. cell — a phone
  15. date — the fruit
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. fine — high quality
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. content — happy
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. last — final

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