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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: lean · mark · bass · date · scale · content · wind · pitch

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bass — the fish
  3. pitch — completely
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. wind — moving air
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. mark — a trace
  8. lean — to bend
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. lean — thin
  12. mark — a grade
  13. bass — low music
  14. scale — size or range
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. scale — in music
  19. date — the fruit
  20. content — the amount
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. wind — moving air
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. scale — for weighing

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