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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: club · scale · jam · march · content · arm · wound · cell

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. cell — a phone
  4. scale — in music
  5. content — the amount
  6. march — music
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. club — for golf
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. cell — in biology
  14. club — for dancing
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. wound — an injury
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. march — the month
  21. content — happy
  22. club — a group
  23. scale — size or range
  24. jam — a tight spot

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