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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.

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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 · stock · cold · track · race · squash · bass · scale

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. squash — the sport
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bass — low music
  5. cap — a lid
  6. track — to keep track
  7. cold — an illness
  8. track — a song
  9. stock — goods
  10. cap — a hat
  11. bass — the fish
  12. stock — shares
  13. scale — in music
  14. cold — not warm
  15. track — a path
  16. race — a contest
  17. cap — of ice
  18. race — the arms race
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. race — humankind
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. squash — to crush

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