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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: nail · scale · pitcher · fine · race · perch · cold · drill

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. fine — all right
  3. race — a contest
  4. cold — not warm
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — in music
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — the arms race
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. scale — size or range
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — a practice
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. drill — army training
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. fine — high quality
  22. perch — the fish
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. cold — an illness

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