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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. sharp — clever
  3. mug — to rob
  4. scale — size or range
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. mark — a grade
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. cold — not warm
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. field — a subject
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. field — for sport
  16. clip — a video
  17. mug — a face
  18. mug — a cup
  19. cold — an illness
  20. mark — a trace
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. field — farmland
  24. cold — the Cold War

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