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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. march — the month
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. fall — to drop
  8. capital — a city
  9. march — music
  10. shower — to wash
  11. object — to protest
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. shower — rain
  14. fall — to drop
  15. capital — money
  16. object — a thing
  17. march — the month
  18. object — an aim
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. content — happy
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. content — the amount
  23. fall — the season
  24. trunk — of a car

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