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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: roll · march · cold · cell · fork · mouse · scale · stock

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. fork — in a road
  3. cell — a phone
  4. roll — a cake
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. scale — in music
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. roll — a list
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. march — the month
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. march — the month
  18. stock — shares
  19. cold — not warm
  20. scale — size or range
  21. march — music
  22. stock — goods
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. mouse — the animal

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