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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. net — in sport
  5. rash — a series
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. net — for catching
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. rash — hasty
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — to rip
  12. field — a subject
  13. key — the most important part
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. tear — from crying
  16. key — in music
  17. field — farmland
  18. net — after costs
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. march — the month
  21. content — happy
  22. key — for a lock
  23. content — the amount
  24. field — for sport

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