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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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Word bank
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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: spell · march · kid · file · content · can · hand · scale

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. kid — child
  4. march — the month
  5. content — the amount
  6. kid — to tease
  7. scale — in music
  8. spell — letters
  9. hand — help
  10. scale — size or range
  11. can — a tin
  12. can — to be able to
  13. spell — a short time
  14. file — a line of people
  15. march — the month
  16. hand — in cards
  17. spell — magic
  18. can — a tin
  19. march — music
  20. file — a document
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. file — a tool
  23. content — happy
  24. content — videos and posts

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