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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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Word bank
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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. bass — the fish
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. content — happy
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. stock — goods
  10. stock — shares
  11. present — there
  12. key — the most important part
  13. present — the time now
  14. key — for a lock
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. present — a gift
  19. content — the amount
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. bass — low music
  22. key — in music
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. bass — the instrument

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