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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. content — happy
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. cap — a lid
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cold — an illness
  8. march — the month
  9. bass — the fish
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. bass — low music
  16. cap — a hat
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. dip — to sink
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. pitch — completely
  21. content — the amount
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. dip — to dunk

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