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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: temple · bass · drill · last · mine · cue · scale · file

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. mine — for digging
  3. cue — a signal
  4. bass — the fish
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. last — final
  7. drill — the tool
  8. file — a line of people
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. cue — a hint
  11. file — a tool
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. last — finally
  14. cue — for pool
  15. drill — army training
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. scale — size or range
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. drill — a practice
  20. last — to go on
  21. scale — in music
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. file — a document

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