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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 120 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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. scale — size or range
  3. drill — a practice
  4. rash — hasty
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. drill — the tool
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. scale — in music
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. rash — a series
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. pitch — completely
  14. drill — army training
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. dip — to sink
  17. mark — a trace
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pitch — a sports field
  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