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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 120 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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. sharp — clever
  3. march — the month
  4. present — there
  5. rule — a law
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. kid — to tease
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. track — a song
  10. content — happy
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. march — music
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. present — the time now
  15. kid — child
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. track — to keep track
  18. track — a path
  19. present — a gift
  20. rule — government
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — the fish
  23. march — the month
  24. content — the amount

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