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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. scale — in music
  4. bulb — for light
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. wound — an injury
  12. land — a country
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — ground
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. snap — to click
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. bulb — for light
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. wound — an injury
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. scale — size or range

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