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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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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: rock · degree · fork · bowl · pitch · scale · content · march

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. fork — in a road
  3. degree — an amount
  4. pitch — completely
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. scale — in music
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. degree — from a university
  14. content — the amount
  15. scale — size or range
  16. march — the month
  17. degree — temperature
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. rock — music
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. content — happy
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. rock — a stone

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