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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  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. bass — the fish
  2. content — happy
  3. fork — in a road
  4. rash — a series
  5. fall — to drop
  6. scale — in music
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. fine — all right
  10. fine — high quality
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. fall — to drop
  13. rash — hasty
  14. fall — the season
  15. rule — government
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. rule — a law
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. bass — low music
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. content — the amount
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. scale — size or range

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