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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. bass — the fish
  3. perch — the fish
  4. race — a contest
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. race — the arms race
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. clip — a video
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bass — low music
  13. pit — a hole
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. content — happy
  16. rock — music
  17. pit — in a race
  18. race — humankind
  19. clip — for paper
  20. content — the amount
  21. clip — to cut
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. rock — a stone
  24. date — the fruit

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