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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: stand · march · hand · cold · scale · content · mouse · bowl

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. cold — not warm
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — happy
  8. hand — help
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. hand — in cards
  12. cold — an illness
  13. scale — size or range
  14. march — the month
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. march — music
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. march — the month
  20. stand — to bear
  21. scale — in music
  22. content — the amount
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. mouse — 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