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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: perch · content · wind · file · date · cap · ball · march

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. ball — a great time
  3. content — the amount
  4. march — the month
  5. wind — moving air
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cap — a lid
  9. file — a document
  10. march — music
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — the fruit
  13. ball — a dance
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. cap — of ice
  16. file — a line of people
  17. content — happy
  18. perch — the fish
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. file — a tool
  23. march — the month
  24. wind — moving air

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