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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 120 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. content — happy
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bass — the fish
  6. can — a tin
  7. spring — of water
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. chest — a box
  10. content — the amount
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. band — a ring
  15. can — to be able to
  16. shower — rain
  17. pass — a permit
  18. can — a tin
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spring — the season
  21. spring — a coil
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. chest — of your body

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