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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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468
Word bank
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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. squash — to crush
  3. object — an aim
  4. content — happy
  5. rash — a series
  6. mate — a friend
  7. mate — to breed
  8. race — humankind
  9. object — to protest
  10. race — a contest
  11. bass — low music
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. bass — the fish
  16. race — the arms race
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. content — the amount
  19. object — a thing
  20. mate — a partner
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. squash — the sport
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. content — videos and posts

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