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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: scale · pit · craft · spring · ball · content · bay · cell

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. ball — a dance
  5. craft — a skill
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. cell — a phone
  8. pit — in a race
  9. scale — in music
  10. pit — a hole
  11. craft — boats
  12. content — happy
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. scale — size or range
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. spring — the season
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. spring — of water
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cell — in biology
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. ball — a great time
  24. spring — a coil

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