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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. kid — to tease
  3. march — music
  4. content — the amount
  5. kid — child
  6. land — ground
  7. march — the month
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. pop — to visit
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. staff — employees
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. march — the month
  15. staff — a stick
  16. pop — music
  17. land — a country
  18. pop — soda
  19. content — happy
  20. track — a song
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. track — to keep track
  23. track — a path
  24. land — to come down

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