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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 116 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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  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. mouse — the animal
  3. march — the month
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. row — to paddle
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. content — happy
  14. march — music
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. snap — to click
  18. cell — in biology
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. cell — a phone
  21. march — the month
  22. row — a line
  23. bark — of a tree
  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