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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: wake · race · lean · hide · land · scale · fork · degree

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. scale — in music
  5. lean — thin
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. scale — size or range
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. race — the arms race
  10. wake — a trail
  11. lean — to bend
  12. land — a country
  13. degree — from a university
  14. race — a contest
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. land — ground
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — an amount
  22. land — to come down
  23. fork — in a road
  24. race — humankind

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