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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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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: band · wind · bark · fork · bat · wound · scale · nail

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. bark — to shout
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. band — a ring
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. band — a music group
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. scale — size or range
  15. wound — an injury
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. fork — in a road
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. wind — moving air
  20. scale — in music
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. wind — moving air
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. nail — on a finger

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