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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: content · rest · bass · band · lean · march · degree · wind

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. content — the amount
  3. wind — moving air
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. degree — from a university
  6. rest — what's left
  7. march — music
  8. band — a music group
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. lean — thin
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. march — the month
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bass — low music
  15. wind — moving air
  16. band — a ring
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. rest — what's left
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. march — the month
  21. degree — an amount
  22. content — happy
  23. rest — a break
  24. bass — the fish

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