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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: wake · fork · pound · wind · scale · hand · row · face

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. face — to point toward
  5. wind — moving air
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. wind — moving air
  8. scale — in music
  9. scale — size or range
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. fork — in a road
  13. hand — in cards
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. face — to confront
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. face — part of the head
  18. pound — a weight
  19. row — to paddle
  20. wake — a trail
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. row — a line
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. hand — help

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