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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. march — music
  4. cap — of ice
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. cap — a lid
  8. content — happy
  9. cap — a hat
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. present — a gift
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — the animal
  15. present — there
  16. content — the amount
  17. lie — to recline
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. bass — the fish
  24. present — the time now

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