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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 120 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: arm · fork · nail · last · file · wake · cold · scale

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. last — to go on
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. wake — a trail
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. file — a document
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. cold — not warm
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. scale — in music
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. file — a line of people
  15. fork — in a road
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. file — a tool
  20. scale — size or range
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. cold — an illness
  23. last — final
  24. last — finally

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