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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: band · bass · bank · sharp · bat · cell · scale · land

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. cell — a phone
  3. scale — in music
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. land — ground
  8. land — a country
  9. bass — the fish
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. bank — of a river
  13. bank — for money
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. cell — in biology
  16. land — to come down
  17. band — a ring
  18. scale — size or range
  19. bass — low music
  20. bank — for money
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. band — a music group
  23. sharp — clever
  24. bat — the animal

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