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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: last · bowl · mark · march · sharp · cell · content · bank

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. last — final
  4. last — to go on
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. bank — for money
  7. content — happy
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. bank — for money
  10. march — the month
  11. cell — a phone
  12. mark — a grade
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. last — finally
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. march — the month
  19. mark — a trace
  20. sharp — clever
  21. bank — of a river
  22. cell — in biology
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. march — music

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