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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. track — to keep track
  4. last — to go on
  5. march — the month
  6. drill — a practice
  7. track — a song
  8. last — final
  9. content — the amount
  10. drill — army training
  11. chip — to eat
  12. track — a path
  13. bat — the animal
  14. drill — the tool
  15. march — music
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. chip — for betting
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. last — finally
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. perch — the fish
  22. content — happy
  23. march — the month
  24. bat — for baseball

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