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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: bore · scale · row · pass · chest · rule · prune · cold

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. scale — size or range
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. rule — a law
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bore — to tire
  8. pass — a permit
  9. bore — to drill
  10. chest — of your body
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cold — an illness
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. scale — in music
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. rule — government
  18. chest — a box
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. prune — to trim
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. row — a line
  24. cold — not warm

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