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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. sharp — clever
  4. cold — not warm
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. bore — to tire
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. scale — size or range
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. land — ground
  15. land — a country
  16. bore — to drill
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. land — to come down
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. cold — an illness
  24. branch — a division

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