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

Word bank: jam · fall · bulb · prune · content · mate · march · rule

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. content — happy
  3. march — the month
  4. fall — the season
  5. rule — a law
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. fall — to drop
  8. content — the amount
  9. rule — government
  10. mate — a partner
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bulb — for light
  13. march — the month
  14. mate — to breed
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. prune — to trim
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. bulb — for light
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. mate — a friend
  24. jam — a tight spot

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