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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. content — happy
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. track — a path
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. track — to keep track
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. pop — to visit
  10. last — final
  11. pop — music
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. last — to go on
  14. pop — soda
  15. tube — a container
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bass — the fish
  19. track — a song
  20. tube — the underground
  21. bass — low music
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. cold — not warm
  24. last — finally

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