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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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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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. cold — not warm
  3. club — a group
  4. drill — a practice
  5. tube — a container
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. drill — the tool
  9. drill — army training
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. kid — child
  12. scale — in music
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. file — a document
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. kid — to tease
  18. file — a tool
  19. scale — size or range
  20. club — for golf
  21. club — for dancing
  22. cold — an illness
  23. file — a line of people
  24. tube — the underground

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