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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. mate — to breed
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. content — the amount
  6. craft — a skill
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. content — happy
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bass — the fish
  13. pitch — completely
  14. cap — a lid
  15. cold — an illness
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. mate — a friend
  19. craft — boats
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. bass — low music
  22. cap — a hat
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mate — a partner

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