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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: last · scale · content · stem · squash · pitcher · season · cabinet

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. last — final
  4. last — finally
  5. last — to go on
  6. squash — to crush
  7. content — happy
  8. scale — in music
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. scale — size or range
  11. stem — to come from
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. squash — the sport
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. season — of the year
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. season — in sport
  23. content — the amount
  24. squash — the vegetable

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