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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. content — the amount
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bulb — for light
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. bass — the fish
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. chest — a box
  14. clip — a video
  15. branch — a division
  16. clip — to cut
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bulb — for light
  22. content — happy
  23. chest — of your body
  24. clip — for paper

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