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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. can — a tin
  3. content — happy
  4. race — the arms race
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. cold — not warm
  8. track — a song
  9. band — a ring
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. race — humankind
  13. board — a committee
  14. bass — the fish
  15. can — a tin
  16. board — to get on
  17. band — a music group
  18. content — the amount
  19. track — to keep track
  20. can — to be able to
  21. bass — low music
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. race — a contest
  24. bass — the instrument

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