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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. march — the month
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. track — a song
  5. march — the month
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. scale — size or range
  8. content — the amount
  9. march — music
  10. rush — hurry
  11. fine — all right
  12. clip — for paper
  13. fine — high quality
  14. clip — a video
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. track — a path
  17. clip — to cut
  18. court — for sport
  19. court — of a king
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. scale — in music
  22. court — of law
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. track — to keep track

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