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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: fork · drill · stock · saw · staff · spring · scale · game

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. game — wild animals
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. game — a match
  7. staff — a stick
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. drill — a practice
  12. drill — army training
  13. stock — shares
  14. staff — employees
  15. spring — the season
  16. drill — the tool
  17. staff — employees
  18. spring — a coil
  19. fork — in a road
  20. stock — goods
  21. spring — of water
  22. scale — size or range
  23. saw — the tool
  24. scale — in music

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