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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. cold — an illness
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. cold — not warm
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. current — of water
  9. content — happy
  10. current — electric
  11. track — a song
  12. current — happening now
  13. track — a path
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. track — to keep track
  17. content — the amount
  18. land — ground
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. rush — hurry
  21. bass — low music
  22. bass — the fish
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — a country

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