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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 116 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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. band — a music group
  3. cold — an illness
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. bass — low music
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. court — of law
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. cold — not warm
  17. content — happy
  18. court — for sport
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. court — of a king
  22. band — a ring
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. bass — the fish

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