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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  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. march — the month
  3. content — the amount
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. march — music
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. clip — for paper
  9. spring — a coil
  10. shower — rain
  11. roll — a cake
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. clip — to cut
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. spring — of water
  17. clip — a video
  18. shower — to wash
  19. roll — a list
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. march — the month
  23. spring — the season
  24. content — happy

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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