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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. last — final
  3. root — the cause
  4. content — the amount
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. root — of a word
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a tool
  9. bass — the fish
  10. track — to keep track
  11. board — a committee
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. track — a path
  14. track — a song
  15. land — a country
  16. last — to go on
  17. root — of a plant
  18. land — ground
  19. last — finally
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. land — to come down
  22. file — a line of people
  23. content — happy
  24. board — to get on

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