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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. stand — to bear
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. race — the arms race
  8. race — humankind
  9. content — the amount
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. content — happy
  13. ball — a dance
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. clip — for paper
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — help
  18. ball — a great time
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — to cut
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. branch — a division
  23. race — a contest
  24. bass — low music

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