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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: march · bowl · pop · bass · scale · content · drill · chest

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. drill — a practice
  3. pop — soda
  4. march — the month
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pop — music
  8. content — the amount
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. scale — in music
  11. pop — to visit
  12. bass — the fish
  13. content — happy
  14. drill — the tool
  15. scale — size or range
  16. chest — of your body
  17. march — music
  18. chest — a box
  19. march — the month
  20. drill — army training
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. content — videos and posts

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