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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.

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: pit · file · season · rush · land · content · court · scale

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. scale — in music
  3. land — to come down
  4. season — of the year
  5. land — a country
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. court — for sport
  8. content — the amount
  9. season — in sport
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. rush — hurry
  14. court — of law
  15. file — a document
  16. content — happy
  17. pit — a hole
  18. file — a tool
  19. court — of a king
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. scale — size or range
  22. land — ground
  23. file — a line of people
  24. pit — in a race

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