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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 120 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: file · kid · season · tube · net · scale · straw · bass

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. file — a line of people
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. scale — size or range
  7. kid — child
  8. net — for catching
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bass — low music
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. net — in sport
  15. kid — to tease
  16. season — in sport
  17. scale — in music
  18. file — a document
  19. bass — the fish
  20. tube — a container
  21. net — after costs
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. tube — the underground
  24. file — a tool

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