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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. content — happy
  4. net — in sport
  5. cap — of ice
  6. net — for catching
  7. net — after costs
  8. land — to come down
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. content — the amount
  13. cap — a lid
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. pound — a weight
  16. land — a country
  17. bass — the fish
  18. land — ground
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. bass — low music
  22. cap — a hat
  23. wax — to grow
  24. pound — to hit hard

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