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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 ________________ went through the wall.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. cold — an illness
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. scale — size or range
  8. mine — for digging
  9. wound — an injury
  10. scale — in music
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bass — the fish
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. cold — not warm
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. pound — a weight
  24. bass — low music

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