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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 120 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. last — final
  3. bass — low music
  4. mark — a trace
  5. charge — electricity
  6. chest — of your body
  7. season — in sport
  8. mark — a grade
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pound — a weight
  12. season — of the year
  13. last — to go on
  14. last — finally
  15. charge — a price
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. chest — a box
  19. bass — the fish
  20. charge — in control
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. cold — not warm
  24. chest — of your body

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