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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: hide · face · cold · swing · bass · content · bulb · perch

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. face — to confront
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. cold — not warm
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. bass — low music
  9. face — to point toward
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. face — part of the head
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. cold — an illness
  14. swing — in golf
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. swing — music
  18. content — happy
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. bulb — for light
  21. content — the amount
  22. bass — the fish
  23. perch — the fish
  24. swing — to play 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