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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 116 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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. content — happy
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wake — a trail
  9. bass — low music
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. degree — temperature
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rock — music
  14. content — the amount
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. rock — a stone
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. degree — from a university
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. bass — the fish
  24. pitcher — a jug

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