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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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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: fall · fork · swing · scale · band · wake · pop · chest

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. swing — in golf
  3. swing — to play on
  4. pop — soda
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. chest — of your body
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. chest — of your body
  10. fall — to drop
  11. wake — a trail
  12. scale — in music
  13. chest — a box
  14. band — a ring
  15. fork — in a road
  16. scale — size or range
  17. band — a music group
  18. fall — the season
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. pop — to visit
  21. pop — music
  22. swing — music
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. fall — to drop

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