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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: bat · content · swing · squash · bound · cold · mouse · jam

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bound — obliged
  5. swing — music
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. swing — in golf
  9. content — happy
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. squash — to crush
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. bound — tied together
  19. cold — an illness
  20. content — the amount
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bound — certain
  23. swing — to play on
  24. content — videos and posts

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