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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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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: race · prune · cold · nail · cell · drill · bay · scale

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. scale — size or range
  3. drill — army training
  4. drill — a practice
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cell — in biology
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. cold — an illness
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. cold — not warm
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. race — humankind
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. scale — in music
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. drill — the tool
  22. cell — a phone
  23. race — the arms race
  24. race — a contest

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