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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bass — low music
  4. race — the arms race
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. race — a contest
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bass — the fish
  11. club — for dancing
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. wake — a trail
  14. club — for golf
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. date — the fruit
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. content — the amount
  23. race — humankind
  24. club — a group

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