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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. march — the month
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. wound — an injury
  7. kid — child
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. kid — to tease
  11. content — the amount
  12. court — of law
  13. perch — the fish
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. content — happy
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. ball — a great time
  19. wound — an injury
  20. march — the month
  21. court — for sport
  22. court — of a king
  23. ball — a dance
  24. content — videos and posts

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