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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 120 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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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: bass · net · cap · content · rest · straw · perch · race

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cap — a lid
  3. race — a contest
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. bass — low music
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — the amount
  8. rest — a break
  9. rest — what's left
  10. perch — the fish
  11. race — humankind
  12. content — happy
  13. bass — the fish
  14. net — for catching
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. net — after costs
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. race — the arms race
  19. rest — what's left
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. net — in sport
  24. cap — a hat

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