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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: face · fork · can · saw · bark · bass · capital · scale

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. face — part of the head
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. scale — size or range
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. bark — to shout
  9. saw — the tool
  10. capital — a city
  11. face — to point toward
  12. bass — low music
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. face — to confront
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. scale — in music
  19. can — a tin
  20. saw — the tool
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. capital — money
  23. can — a tin
  24. fork — in a road

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