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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: kid · fan · cap · wound · scale · drill · cold · last

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. wound — an injury
  3. scale — size or range
  4. drill — a practice
  5. last — to go on
  6. last — finally
  7. drill — army training
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. last — final
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. wound — an injury
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — to tease
  14. cap — a hat
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. cold — an illness
  20. drill — the tool
  21. cap — of ice
  22. kid — child
  23. cold — not warm
  24. fan — a supporter

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