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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 120 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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. mug — to rob
  4. content — the amount
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bass — the fish
  8. wound — an injury
  9. mug — a cup
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. mug — a face
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. shower — to wash
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. prune — to trim
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pass — a permit
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. shower — rain
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. bass — low music

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