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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 play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. squash — the sport
  4. race — a contest
  5. squash — to crush
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. race — humankind
  11. perch — the fish
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. pound — a weight
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. mine — for digging
  16. bass — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. chair — a leader
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. race — the arms race
  22. content — happy
  23. content — the amount
  24. bass — low music

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