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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: wound · cabinet · squash · date · bark · bass · last · content

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. last — final
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. squash — the sport
  6. content — happy
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. date — the fruit
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. bass — low music
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. content — the amount
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bark — to shout
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. last — to go on
  22. last — finally
  23. squash — to crush
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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