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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: cold · season · scale · fork · bowl · squash · mine · lean

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. fork — in a road
  5. mine — for digging
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. season — in sport
  9. squash — to crush
  10. season — of the year
  11. lean — thin
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. squash — the sport
  14. scale — in music
  15. lean — to bend
  16. scale — size or range
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. bowl — to roll
  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