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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. row — a line
  3. bat — the animal
  4. march — the month
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. rock — music
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. content — happy
  9. content — the amount
  10. spring — the season
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. pass — a permit
  14. stand — to bear
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. march — music
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. spring — a coil
  20. rock — a stone
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. march — the month
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. spring — of water

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