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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 120 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: sharp · wind · scale · chip · file · squash · fork · chest

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. file — a tool
  3. fork — in a road
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. chest — of your body
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. chip — to eat
  8. chip — for betting
  9. file — a line of people
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. file — a document
  12. sharp — clever
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. squash — to crush
  15. scale — in music
  16. chest — a box
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. scale — size or range
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — moving air
  24. chest — of your body

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