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

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a ring
  4. hand — help
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. firm — steady
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. firm — decided
  10. firm — a company
  11. bass — low music
  12. hand — in cards
  13. last — finally
  14. content — happy
  15. bass — the fish
  16. last — to go on
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. content — the amount

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