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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. content — happy
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. ground — a position
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. ground — crushed
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. fork — in a road
  12. swing — to play on
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. content — the amount
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. swing — music
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. ground — the earth
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. date — the fruit
  23. swing — in golf
  24. bass — low 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