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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. bass — low music
  3. file — a tool
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. cold — not warm
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. prune — to trim
  9. object — an aim
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. scale — size or range
  13. object — a thing
  14. object — to protest
  15. toast — bread
  16. prune — to trim
  17. land — to come down
  18. file — a line of people
  19. bass — the fish
  20. land — a country
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. land — ground
  23. file — a document
  24. scale — for weighing

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