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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: bass · bat · content · scale · capital · kid · branch · bark

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. scale — in music
  4. content — happy
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. content — the amount
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. capital — a city
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bass — the fish
  11. bass — low music
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. capital — money
  15. bark — to shout
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. branch — a division
  18. bat — the animal
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. scale — size or range
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — to tease
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. branch — of a bank

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