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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: ball · mark · net · scale · saw · cold · pit · mine

  1. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pit — a hole
  4. saw — the tool
  5. mark — a grade
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — for digging
  8. net — after costs
  9. cold — not warm
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. net — in sport
  15. net — for catching
  16. ball — a great time
  17. pit — in a race
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. cold — an illness
  20. ball — a dance
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. scale — in music
  23. saw — the tool
  24. ball — a round shape

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