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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.

Make a worksheet

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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. spell — letters
  4. ball — a dance
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bass — low music
  7. content — the amount
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. scale — in music
  10. mine — for digging
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. spell — magic
  14. spell — a short time
  15. perch — the fish
  16. content — happy
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. snap — to click
  24. ball — a great time

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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