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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. content — happy
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bound — obliged
  5. clip — for paper
  6. content — the amount
  7. present — a gift
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. shower — rain
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. bound — tied together
  12. present — there
  13. shower — to wash
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. clip — a video
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. stock — goods
  18. bass — low music
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. bound — certain
  21. clip — to cut
  22. present — the time now
  23. stock — shares
  24. temple — side of the head

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