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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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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: scale · bulb · drill · file · spring · squash · net · cold

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. drill — army training
  3. squash — the sport
  4. net — in sport
  5. drill — the tool
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. file — a line of people
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. squash — to crush
  11. bulb — for light
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bulb — for light
  15. scale — size or range
  16. net — for catching
  17. spring — the season
  18. file — a document
  19. spring — a coil
  20. cold — an illness
  21. file — a tool
  22. drill — a practice
  23. net — after costs
  24. spring — of water

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