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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: march · cold · pitcher · jam · bowl · toast · content · suit

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. content — the amount
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. suit — to fit
  15. march — music
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. content — happy
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. toast — bread
  20. suit — in cards
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. suit — clothes

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