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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: cold · kid · pitch · march · firm · lean · scale · bass

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. firm — steady
  4. bass — the fish
  5. cold — not warm
  6. march — the month
  7. cold — an illness
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. march — music
  10. pitch — completely
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. kid — to tease
  13. firm — decided
  14. firm — a company
  15. march — the month
  16. lean — thin
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. kid — child
  21. scale — size or range
  22. scale — in music
  23. lean — to bend
  24. bass — the instrument

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