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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
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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: object · fork · scale · mine · saw · swing · cold · lie

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  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. cold — an illness
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. swing — music
  4. saw — the tool
  5. fork — in a road
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. cold — not warm
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. lie — to recline
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. object — to protest
  12. swing — to play on
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. saw — the tool
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. scale — in music
  17. object — a thing
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — for digging
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. scale — size or range
  22. object — an aim
  23. swing — in golf
  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