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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: craft · pitcher · fall · drill · content · root · pop · last

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. last — final
  5. fall — to drop
  6. craft — a skill
  7. fall — to drop
  8. root — the cause
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. pop — soda
  11. last — to go on
  12. pop — music
  13. root — of a plant
  14. last — finally
  15. craft — boats
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pop — to visit
  18. root — of a word
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. drill — the tool
  21. fall — the season
  22. content — the amount
  23. drill — army training
  24. drill — a practice

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