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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. band — a music group
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. content — happy
  5. current — of water
  6. current — happening now
  7. track — to keep track
  8. cold — an illness
  9. current — electric
  10. track — a path
  11. band — a ring
  12. stem — to come from
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bass — low music
  19. content — the amount
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. track — a song
  24. bass — the instrument

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