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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. shower — rain
  6. march — the month
  7. ball — a great time
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. content — the amount
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. content — happy
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. capital — a city
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pitch — completely
  20. march — music
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. capital — money
  24. march — the month

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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