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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: cap · bass · file · sharp · content · swing · bat · perch

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. file — a document
  3. file — a line of people
  4. swing — to play on
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. content — the amount
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. swing — in golf
  11. cap — a lid
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. cap — a hat
  16. bass — the fish
  17. perch — the fish
  18. cap — of ice
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. swing — music
  22. file — a tool
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. bass — low music

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