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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: bowl · scale · prune · hand · mate · content · chair · fall

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. chair — a leader
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — happy
  5. fall — to drop
  6. scale — in music
  7. prune — to trim
  8. content — the amount
  9. mate — a friend
  10. fall — the season
  11. hand — in cards
  12. mate — to breed
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. mate — a partner
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. prune — to trim
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. scale — size or range
  23. hand — help
  24. fall — to drop

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