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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: court · fork · march · wind · cell · bore · current · scale

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. current — electric
  3. scale — in music
  4. march — music
  5. court — of law
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — a phone
  9. court — for sport
  10. bore — to drill
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. march — the month
  13. fork — in a road
  14. current — of water
  15. scale — size or range
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. march — the month
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. current — happening now
  20. wind — moving air
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. court — of a king
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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