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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chair · bowl · content · bass · foot · file · firm · race

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. firm — decided
  3. file — a tool
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. firm — steady
  7. content — the amount
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bass — low music
  10. chair — a leader
  11. content — happy
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a document
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. firm — a company
  19. race — a contest
  20. bass — the fish
  21. race — the arms race
  22. foot — a measure
  23. race — humankind
  24. bowl — a football final

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