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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: bore · bass · mine · coach · wind · scale · toast · file

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. wind — moving air
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. toast — bread
  7. bass — the fish
  8. file — a line of people
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. bass — low music
  11. bore — to tire
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. bore — to drill
  14. file — a document
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. scale — in music
  17. file — a tool
  18. mine — for digging
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. wind — moving air
  21. scale — size or range
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. scale — for weighing

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