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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. content — the amount
  3. swing — music
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. bass — low music
  6. chest — of your body
  7. rule — a law
  8. tear — from crying
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. swing — to play on
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. tear — to rip
  13. cell — in biology
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cell — a phone
  16. rule — government
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. content — happy
  19. chest — a box
  20. vault — a safe
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. tear — from crying
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. swing — in golf

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