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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bowl · bat · tear · march · chip · content

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. chip — to eat
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. chip — for betting
  5. tear — to rip
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. content — happy
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. content — the amount
  12. march — the month
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. march — music
  17. tear — from crying
  18. chip — in a computer

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