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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 116 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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468
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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. face — part of the head
  3. content — the amount
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. scale — in music
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. bass — the fish
  11. wound — an injury
  12. face — to point toward
  13. bass — low music
  14. content — happy
  15. game — wild animals
  16. wound — an injury
  17. face — to confront
  18. kid — to tease
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — child
  22. game — a match
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. scale — size or range

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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