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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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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: content · bear · season · kid · swing · temple · cold · bass

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. cold — an illness
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. bass — low music
  5. kid — to tease
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — happy
  8. cold — not warm
  9. swing — to play on
  10. bear — the animal
  11. swing — in golf
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. season — in sport
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. season — of the year
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — child
  18. content — the amount
  19. bass — the fish
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. bear — the animal
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. swing — music

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