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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: mine · kid · scale · press · cold · staff · wound · nail

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  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. nail — for a hammer
  2. cold — not warm
  3. mine — for digging
  4. wound — an injury
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. staff — employees
  7. cold — an illness
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. wound — an injury
  11. press — to push
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. press — a publisher
  15. staff — employees
  16. kid — to tease
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. kid — child
  19. scale — in music
  20. press — newspapers
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. staff — a stick
  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