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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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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: bass · rule · pitch · mine · stock · scale · file · plane

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. bass — the fish
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. scale — size or range
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. stock — goods
  9. plane — a tool
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. file — a document
  12. scale — in music
  13. rule — a law
  14. mine — for digging
  15. file — a line of people
  16. rule — government
  17. bass — low music
  18. stock — shares
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. file — a tool
  24. pitch — completely

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