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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: cell · wax · stock · fork · land · racket · scale · squash

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. cell — a phone
  3. land — to come down
  4. fork — in a road
  5. land — ground
  6. scale — in music
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. squash — the sport
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. stock — goods
  17. wax — to grow
  18. stock — shares
  19. scale — size or range
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. squash — to crush
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. cell — in biology

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