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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: track · trunk · court · file · bass · rash · scale · wave

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. court — of a king
  5. track — to keep track
  6. court — for sport
  7. court — of law
  8. scale — in music
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. track — a path
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. file — a tool
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. file — a line of people
  18. track — a song
  19. file — a document
  20. rash — hasty
  21. bass — low music
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. rash — a series
  24. trunk — of a tree

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