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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: fork · wound · scale · bay · mine · land · snap · club

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. wound — an injury
  4. club — a group
  5. snap — to click
  6. scale — in music
  7. club — for golf
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. land — ground
  12. mine — for digging
  13. club — for dancing
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. land — to come down
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. fork — in a road
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. wound — an injury
  22. scale — size or range
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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