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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 · degree · wound · rash · content · board · bass · mine

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  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. wound — an injury
  2. board — to get on
  3. content — the amount
  4. rash — hasty
  5. wound — an injury
  6. scale — in music
  7. mine — for digging
  8. bass — low music
  9. content — happy
  10. degree — an amount
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. board — a committee
  15. scale — size or range
  16. bass — the fish
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. degree — temperature
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. rash — a series
  23. degree — from a university
  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