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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. rest — what's left
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. scale — in music
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. content — the amount
  8. rule — a law
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — size or range
  12. march — the month
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. march — music
  16. rest — what's left
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. rule — government
  21. march — the month
  22. sharp — clever
  23. rest — a break
  24. sharp — exactly

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