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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 120 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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. tube — the underground
  3. wind — moving air
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. last — to go on
  6. wind — moving air
  7. court — of law
  8. last — final
  9. court — of a king
  10. court — for sport
  11. march — the month
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. content — the amount
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. march — the month
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. content — happy
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. last — finally
  20. march — music
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. tube — a container
  24. arm — part of the body

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