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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: band · fork · pitch · spring · scale · plane · arm · snap

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. scale — size or range
  3. spring — a coil
  4. plane — a tool
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. band — a ring
  9. spring — the season
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. fork — in a road
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. band — a music group
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. snap — to click
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. spring — of water
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. scale — in music
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. pitch — completely

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