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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: fall · kid · fork · field · cap · net · scale · straw

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. net — in sport
  3. scale — in music
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. kid — to tease
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — for sport
  8. cap — of ice
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. fork — in a road
  11. scale — size or range
  12. field — farmland
  13. net — after costs
  14. fall — the season
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. fall — to drop
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. net — for catching
  20. cap — a hat
  21. cap — a lid
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. fall — to drop
  24. kid — child

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