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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 · tear · scale · spell · bay · lean · cold · game

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. spell — letters
  3. scale — in music
  4. scale — size or range
  5. spell — magic
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. cold — an illness
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. tear — to rip
  13. spell — a short time
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. game — wild animals
  17. fork — in a road
  18. cold — not warm
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. lean — thin
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. game — a match

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