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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. can — a tin
  5. ground — crushed
  6. wake — a trail
  7. pop — soda
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ground — a position
  10. march — the month
  11. ground — the earth
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. content — happy
  14. pop — music
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. present — the time now
  18. content — the amount
  19. cold — not warm
  20. present — there
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. pop — to visit
  23. can — to be able to
  24. can — a tin

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