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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: court · mine · sharp · pitch · bass · saw · scale · march

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. march — music
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. bass — low music
  8. march — the month
  9. march — the month
  10. scale — in music
  11. pitch — completely
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. mine — for digging
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. sharp — clever
  16. court — of law
  17. court — of a king
  18. saw — the tool
  19. court — for sport
  20. saw — the tool
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. bass — the fish
  24. scale — size or range

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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