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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. content — happy
  3. content — the amount
  4. face — to confront
  5. last — finally
  6. firm — steady
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. march — the month
  9. face — part of the head
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — an amount
  12. current — happening now
  13. degree — from a university
  14. march — music
  15. firm — decided
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. last — final
  18. last — to go on
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. firm — a company
  21. current — electric
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. current — of water
  24. face — to point toward

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