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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. kick — in football
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. march — music
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. content — the amount
  16. mine — for digging
  17. march — the month
  18. stand — to bear
  19. bass — low music
  20. march — the month
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. bass — the fish
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wake — before a funeral

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