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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. bass — low music
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. hand — help
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. pass — a permit
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. cold — not warm
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. content — the amount
  14. season — in sport
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. season — of the year
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. content — happy
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. perch — the fish
  22. hand — in cards
  23. bass — the fish
  24. mine — for digging

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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