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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. content — happy
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. content — the amount
  6. degree — from a university
  7. current — electric
  8. wind — moving air
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. wake — a trail
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. squash — to crush
  14. current — of water
  15. current — happening now
  16. bark — to shout
  17. wind — moving air
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bass — low music
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. squash — the sport
  24. degree — an amount

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