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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. board — to get on
  3. craft — boats
  4. content — the amount
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. degree — an amount
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. bass — the fish
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. bass — low music
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. board — a committee
  16. wake — a trail
  17. last — final
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. craft — a skill
  21. degree — from a university
  22. last — finally
  23. degree — temperature
  24. last — to go on

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