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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. tear — to rip
  3. club — for dancing
  4. wind — moving air
  5. march — music
  6. content — happy
  7. tear — from crying
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. club — for golf
  10. march — the month
  11. stock — goods
  12. tear — from crying
  13. content — the amount
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. present — the time now
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. wind — moving air
  21. present — there
  22. stock — shares
  23. club — a group
  24. present — a gift

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