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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  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. scale — in music
  2. stem — to come from
  3. wound — an injury
  4. fork — in a road
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. scale — size or range
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. current — happening now
  11. capital — money
  12. cold — not warm
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. current — of water
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. capital — a city
  19. current — electric
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. pitch — completely
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  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