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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. file — a tool
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. court — of law
  5. file — a document
  6. content — happy
  7. court — for sport
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. court — of a king
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — for catching
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. file — a line of people
  16. march — music
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. spell — letters
  19. spell — a short time
  20. spell — magic
  21. net — after costs
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. march — the month
  24. content — the amount

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