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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: rock · chip · content · drill · race · chair · can · scale

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. race — a contest
  3. scale — in music
  4. chip — to eat
  5. drill — army training
  6. can — a tin
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. can — a tin
  11. content — happy
  12. content — the amount
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. can — to be able to
  15. drill — a practice
  16. chip — for betting
  17. scale — size or range
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. chair — a leader
  20. race — humankind
  21. drill — the tool
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. rock — a stone
  24. race — the arms race

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