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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 · rule · court · wake · scale · swing

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. swing — to play on
  3. court — of law
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — in music
  8. court — for sport
  9. court — of a king
  10. swing — in golf
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. fork — in a road
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. scale — size or range
  15. rule — government
  16. swing — music
  17. wake — a trail
  18. rule — a law

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