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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
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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 · scale · content · pitcher · rule · mine · row · chest

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. content — happy
  3. rule — government
  4. chest — a box
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. chest — of your body
  8. row — to paddle
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. chest — of your body
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. row — a line
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — the amount
  15. band — a ring
  16. band — a music group
  17. mine — for digging
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. scale — size or range
  21. rule — a law
  22. scale — in music
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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