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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. snap — to click
  3. pop — music
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. pop — soda
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. band — a ring
  8. content — happy
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. cold — not warm
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. pop — to visit
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. cold — an illness
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. season — in sport
  23. season — of the year
  24. band — a music group

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