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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. scale — in music
  3. scale — size or range
  4. degree — an amount
  5. cold — not warm
  6. degree — temperature
  7. content — happy
  8. drill — army training
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. land — a country
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. drill — a practice
  16. land — to come down
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. bass — the fish
  20. land — ground
  21. degree — from a university
  22. bass — low music
  23. content — the amount
  24. drill — the tool

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