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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: rush · last · scale · content · date · cold · craft · tube

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. rush — hurry
  3. craft — boats
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. scale — size or range
  6. tube — the underground
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. tube — a container
  9. content — the amount
  10. craft — a skill
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. date — the fruit
  13. cold — not warm
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. last — final
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. last — finally
  21. content — happy
  22. scale — in music
  23. last — to go on
  24. rush — a thrill

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