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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: rash · bass · content · club · wave · swing · bat · snap

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bat — the animal
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. rash — hasty
  11. rash — a series
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. swing — in golf
  14. snap — to click
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. club — for dancing
  17. content — happy
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. swing — to play on
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. swing — music
  22. content — the amount
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. club — a group

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