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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. content — the amount
  3. bass — the fish
  4. snap — to click
  5. pop — to visit
  6. wind — moving air
  7. spell — letters
  8. pop — music
  9. bass — low music
  10. spell — magic
  11. pop — soda
  12. board — a committee
  13. content — happy
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. board — to get on
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. capital — a city
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. spell — a short time
  23. capital — money
  24. board — a flat piece

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