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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. content — happy
  3. march — music
  4. craft — a skill
  5. bass — low music
  6. race — humankind
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — crushed
  10. squash — the sport
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. march — the month
  14. march — the month
  15. craft — boats
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. bass — the fish
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. race — a contest
  21. squash — to crush
  22. ground — a position
  23. content — the amount
  24. race — the arms race

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