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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: wound · drill · present · scale · key · straw · fine · pitcher

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. scale — in music
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. fine — all right
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. drill — the tool
  7. key — in music
  8. present — a gift
  9. key — for a lock
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. drill — army training
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. present — there
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. wound — an injury
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. key — the most important part
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. wound — an injury
  22. scale — size or range
  23. drill — a practice
  24. present — the time now

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