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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: wave · scale · fork · stock · bowl · wax · cold · wake

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. scale — size or range
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. scale — in music
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. stock — goods
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stock — shares
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. wake — a trail
  19. fork — in a road
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. wax — to grow
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. cold — an illness

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