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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. march — the month
  3. spell — letters
  4. bass — low music
  5. spell — magic
  6. march — music
  7. mine — for digging
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. scale — size or range
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. content — happy
  12. spell — a short time
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. march — the month
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. content — the amount
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. scale — in music
  19. fork — in a road
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. bass — the fish

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