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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. content — happy
  5. march — music
  6. face — to confront
  7. bass — the fish
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. face — part of the head
  10. ball — a great time
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. ball — a dance
  14. march — the month
  15. roll — a cake
  16. chip — for betting
  17. content — the amount
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. bass — low music
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. face — to point toward
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. chip — to eat
  24. roll — a list

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