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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. tube — the underground
  4. content — the amount
  5. shower — rain
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. bass — the fish
  10. content — happy
  11. band — a music group
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. tube — a container
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. shower — to wash
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. band — a ring
  24. tube — in a tire

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