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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.

Make a worksheet

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: cold · content · hide · bass · bound · fall · object · scale

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. content — happy
  4. scale — in music
  5. object — to protest
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. object — an aim
  10. fall — to drop
  11. content — the amount
  12. scale — size or range
  13. cold — an illness
  14. object — a thing
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bound — certain
  17. bound — tied together
  18. bound — obliged
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — the season
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. bass — the fish

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