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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: mine · net · scale · chair · season · current · file · cold

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. file — a line of people
  3. season — of the year
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. net — for catching
  7. scale — in music
  8. cold — an illness
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a tool
  11. current — happening now
  12. net — in sport
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. season — in sport
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. current — of water
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. chair — a leader
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. mine — for digging
  22. cold — not warm
  23. net — after costs
  24. current — electric

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