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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: wound · mate · content · toast · bass · pitch · date · rule

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. content — the amount
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. content — happy
  7. pitch — completely
  8. date — the fruit
  9. mate — to breed
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. rule — government
  12. rule — a law
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. wound — an injury
  16. toast — bread
  17. mate — a partner
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. bass — the fish
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. mate — a friend
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. wound — an injury
  24. toast — the most admired

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