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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 · scale · foot · land · stem · kid · mouse · wind

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. wind — moving air
  6. land — a country
  7. scale — in music
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. kid — child
  12. scale — size or range
  13. land — ground
  14. fork — in a road
  15. land — to come down
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. stem — to come from
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. foot — a measure
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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