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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.

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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. wind — moving air
  3. content — happy
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. rash — hasty
  6. squash — the sport
  7. game — wild animals
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. squash — to crush
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. game — a match
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. rash — a series
  17. mate — a friend
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. wind — moving air
  20. mate — a partner
  21. content — the amount
  22. mate — to breed
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. bass — the fish

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