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

Word bank: fork · scale · bass · kid · court · cell

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. court — for sport
  4. cell — in biology
  5. fork — in a road
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. scale — size or range
  9. cell — a phone
  10. court — of law
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. bass — the fish
  13. scale — in music
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. court — of a king
  16. kid — to tease
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. kid — child

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