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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. content — happy
  3. last — to go on
  4. race — the arms race
  5. bass — low music
  6. race — humankind
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. last — final
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. game — a match
  14. race — a contest
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. bass — the fish
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. content — the amount
  21. game — wild animals
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. last — finally

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