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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. ball — a great time
  3. bass — the fish
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. ball — a dance
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. content — the amount
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. kid — to tease
  12. clip — to cut
  13. content — happy
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. snap — to click
  16. bass — low music
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. bear — the animal
  20. clip — a video
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. bear — the animal
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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