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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. band — a ring
  3. perch — the fish
  4. current — of water
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. cold — an illness
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. content — happy
  9. current — happening now
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. bass — low music
  12. bass — the fish
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. ground — crushed
  16. lie — to recline
  17. cold — not warm
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. current — electric
  20. ground — the earth
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. content — the amount
  23. ground — a position
  24. lie — an untruth

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