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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 120 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: scale · foot · bowl · march · fork · cold · stand · degree

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. scale — in music
  3. march — the month
  4. degree — an amount
  5. march — the month
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. degree — from a university
  9. stand — to bear
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. degree — temperature
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. cold — not warm
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. fork — in a road
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. scale — size or range
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. march — music
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. bowl — a football final

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