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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. content — the amount
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. march — the month
  6. land — ground
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. land — to come down
  9. fine — high quality
  10. land — a country
  11. fine — all right
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. content — happy
  16. stand — to bear
  17. march — music
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. foot — a measure
  21. march — the month
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. cold — not warm
  24. stand — for spectators

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