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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 · face · clip · bass · prune · stock · sharp · band

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — part of the head
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. scale — size or range
  5. bass — the fish
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. stock — shares
  8. clip — for paper
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. prune — to trim
  11. scale — in music
  12. sharp — clever
  13. clip — to cut
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. clip — a video
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bass — low music
  18. prune — to trim
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a music group
  22. face — to point toward
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. stock — goods

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