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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. season — of the year
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. suit — clothes
  5. bass — the fish
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bass — low music
  9. deal — to handle
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. season — in sport
  12. capital — a city
  13. scale — in music
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. suit — in cards
  17. content — the amount
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. clip — to cut
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — happy
  22. capital — money
  23. suit — to fit
  24. clip — a video

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