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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.

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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: fall · fork · sharp · row · wake · scale · suit · land

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. scale — size or range
  3. suit — in cards
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — the season
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. row — to paddle
  10. suit — to fit
  11. sharp — clever
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. suit — clothes
  14. land — ground
  15. wake — a trail
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fork — in a road
  18. scale — in music
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. land — to come down
  21. row — a line
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. fork — a garden tool

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