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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. pit — in a race
  3. firm — a company
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. content — happy
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. bat — the animal
  9. plane — a tool
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. bass — low music
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. bass — the fish
  16. firm — decided
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cold — not warm
  19. firm — steady
  20. content — the amount
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. cold — an illness
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. pit — a hole

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