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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. drill — army training
  3. stock — goods
  4. march — the month
  5. march — the month
  6. content — the amount
  7. stock — shares
  8. present — a gift
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. drill — the tool
  11. race — humankind
  12. cell — a phone
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. root — the cause
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — in biology
  17. present — there
  18. root — of a plant
  19. race — the arms race
  20. present — the time now
  21. drill — a practice
  22. race — a contest
  23. march — music
  24. root — of a word

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