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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.

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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: scale · drill · bat · kick · straw · chest · fine · wind

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. fine — all right
  4. chest — a box
  5. drill — army training
  6. scale — in music
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. bat — the animal
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. fine — high quality
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. drill — the tool
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. chest — of your body
  19. kick — in football
  20. drill — a practice
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. chest — of your body
  24. wind — moving air

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