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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. key — the most important part
  3. ground — crushed
  4. march — the month
  5. march — the month
  6. content — the amount
  7. row — a line
  8. ground — the earth
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. band — a ring
  11. bat — the animal
  12. march — music
  13. ground — a position
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — to paddle
  16. key — for a lock
  17. key — in music
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. rule — a law
  20. rule — government
  21. band — a music group
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. content — happy

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