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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: scale · land · cue · straw · bulb · clip · fork · shower

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. shower — to wash
  3. clip — a video
  4. scale — size or range
  5. fork — in a road
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. land — ground
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. scale — in music
  10. clip — to cut
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. land — a country
  13. cue — a signal
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bulb — for light
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bulb — for light
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. cue — for pool
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. shower — rain
  23. cue — a hint
  24. bulb — of a plant

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