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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
468
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: cold · fork · straw · pop · ball · last · scale · rock

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. last — finally
  3. pop — to visit
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. ball — a dance
  7. rock — music
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. pop — soda
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. cold — not warm
  13. last — final
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. last — to go on
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. rock — a stone
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. ball — a great time
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pop — music
  22. cold — an illness
  23. fork — in a road
  24. scale — size or range

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