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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. root — of a word
  5. field — a subject
  6. perch — the fish
  7. march — music
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. content — happy
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — to cut
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. march — the month
  15. field — for sport
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. root — of a plant
  18. content — the amount
  19. bass — the fish
  20. bass — low music
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. field — farmland
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. root — the cause

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