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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · content · bass · saw · squash · mate · field · cue

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. cue — a hint
  3. squash — to crush
  4. bass — low music
  5. saw — the tool
  6. field — a subject
  7. wind — moving air
  8. content — happy
  9. cue — for pool
  10. field — for sport
  11. squash — the sport
  12. cue — a signal
  13. mate — a partner
  14. field — farmland
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. content — the amount
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. mate — to breed
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. mate — a friend
  23. bass — the fish
  24. wind — moving air

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