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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. rash — hasty
  3. drill — army training
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. bass — low music
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. content — happy
  12. drill — a practice
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — an injury
  17. sharp — clever
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. stem — to come from
  20. rash — a series
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. drill — the tool
  23. content — the amount
  24. wave — of the sea

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