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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. fine — all right
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. file — a document
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. scale — in music
  8. band — a ring
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. mark — a trace
  13. content — happy
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. scale — size or range
  17. mark — a grade
  18. fine — high quality
  19. bat — the animal
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. content — the amount
  22. file — a tool
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. file — a line of people

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