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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. bass — low music
  3. drill — a practice
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. drill — the tool
  6. file — a document
  7. swing — music
  8. content — the amount
  9. file — a line of people
  10. scale — in music
  11. swing — to play on
  12. content — happy
  13. scale — size or range
  14. band — a ring
  15. swing — in golf
  16. rock — music
  17. file — a tool
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. bass — the fish
  22. drill — army training
  23. rock — a stone
  24. band — a rubber band

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