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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: tear · fork · rock · wound · scale · plane · pop · cold

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wound — an injury
  4. scale — in music
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. rock — music
  7. plane — a tool
  8. tear — from crying
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. cold — not warm
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. pop — to visit
  14. pop — music
  15. pop — soda
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. scale — size or range
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wound — an injury
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. fork — in a road
  24. rock — a stone

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