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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 116 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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. bat — the animal
  4. net — after costs
  5. pit — a hole
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. season — of the year
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. pit — in a race
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. tube — the underground
  14. march — music
  15. march — the month
  16. content — happy
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. net — for catching
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. season — in sport
  21. tube — a container
  22. net — in sport
  23. march — the month
  24. season — to add flavour

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