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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. mate — to breed
  4. saw — the tool
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. mate — a partner
  7. content — the amount
  8. bass — low music
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. can — a tin
  12. saw — the tool
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — the animal
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. can — to be able to
  20. can — a tin
  21. bass — the fish
  22. bark — to shout
  23. content — happy
  24. content — videos and posts

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