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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cue — for pool
  8. cue — a signal
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. drill — army training
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. mine — for digging
  14. scale — in music
  15. saw — the tool
  16. drill — a practice
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. scale — size or range
  19. drill — the tool
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. cue — a hint
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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