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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 116 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 · fork · coach · club · land · rest · stand · wind

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. club — for golf
  4. scale — size or range
  5. rest — what's left
  6. club — a group
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. land — a country
  9. club — for dancing
  10. stand — to bear
  11. rest — a break
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. scale — in music
  14. wind — moving air
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. land — ground
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. fork — in a road
  21. rest — what's left
  22. land — to come down
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. wind — moving air

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