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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. hand — in cards
  4. content — the amount
  5. content — happy
  6. march — the month
  7. cold — an illness
  8. march — music
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. swing — to play on
  11. hand — help
  12. bore — to tire
  13. swing — music
  14. rash — a series
  15. swing — in golf
  16. cold — not warm
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. march — the month
  19. rash — hasty
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. bore — to drill

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