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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 120 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: pitcher · perch · bass · rash · cabinet · file · degree · content

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. perch — the fish
  3. content — happy
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. file — a line of people
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. rash — hasty
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. degree — temperature
  11. content — the amount
  12. bass — low music
  13. degree — from a university
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. rash — a series
  16. file — a document
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. file — a tool
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. degree — an amount
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. bass — the fish
  24. content — videos and posts

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