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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. staff — a stick
  5. branch — a division
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. deal — to handle
  9. tube — a container
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. content — happy
  14. staff — employees
  15. cold — not warm
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. tube — the underground
  19. content — the amount
  20. wind — moving air
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. staff — employees
  23. bass — the fish
  24. cold — the Cold War

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