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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
468
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: squash · march · bat · dip · content · ball · tear · bass

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. tear — from crying
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. squash — the sport
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. march — the month
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. dip — to sink
  15. squash — to crush
  16. march — the month
  17. ball — a great time
  18. bass — the fish
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bass — low music
  21. content — happy
  22. content — the amount
  23. bat — the animal
  24. march — 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