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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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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. wind — moving air
  3. scale — in music
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. bass — low music
  7. content — the amount
  8. file — a document
  9. content — happy
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. scale — size or range
  12. net — for catching
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. row — to paddle
  15. cell — in biology
  16. net — after costs
  17. file — a tool
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. wind — moving air
  20. file — a line of people
  21. row — a line
  22. net — in sport
  23. bass — the fish
  24. wind — to turn a key

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