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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: cold · fork · racket · cabinet · mine · scale · nail · clip

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. clip — a video
  8. scale — in music
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fork — in a road
  24. scale — size or range

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