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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 120 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. last — final
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. last — finally
  5. march — music
  6. content — happy
  7. last — to go on
  8. rash — hasty
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. track — a song
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. spell — magic
  13. spell — letters
  14. rash — a series
  15. track — to keep track
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. mug — a cup
  18. mug — a face
  19. track — a path
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. march — the month
  22. spell — a short time
  23. march — the month
  24. mug — to rob

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