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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: rash · season · drill · foot · row · cold · file · scale

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. row — to paddle
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. cold — not warm
  7. file — a tool
  8. scale — size or range
  9. cold — an illness
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. foot — a measure
  12. rash — a series
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. file — a line of people
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. drill — the tool
  17. season — in sport
  18. row — a line
  19. rash — hasty
  20. file — a document
  21. drill — a practice
  22. drill — army training
  23. season — of the year
  24. scale — in music

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