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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 120 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. swing — music
  8. lie — to recline
  9. degree — from a university
  10. wake — a trail
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. content — happy
  13. pound — a weight
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. degree — an amount
  17. content — the amount
  18. kick — in football
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bass — the fish
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — to play on

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