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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. content — the amount
  3. date — the fruit
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. row — to paddle
  7. last — to go on
  8. rash — hasty
  9. last — finally
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. row — a line
  12. net — for catching
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. net — after costs
  15. net — in sport
  16. shower — to wash
  17. clip — to cut
  18. content — happy
  19. last — final
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. rash — a series
  23. shower — rain
  24. row — a quarrel

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