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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. content — the amount
  3. march — the month
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. shower — rain
  6. mark — a trace
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. shower — to wash
  9. rest — what's left
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. content — happy
  12. march — music
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. dip — to sink
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. fine — high quality
  18. rest — a break
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. march — the month
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. mark — a grade
  24. rest — what's left

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