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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.

Make a worksheet

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: rock · saw · cold · mine · scale · vault · drill · bass

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. cold — an illness
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. rock — a stone
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bass — low music
  8. cold — not warm
  9. saw — the tool
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — for digging
  12. rock — music
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. saw — the tool
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — in music
  17. vault — a safe
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. drill — army training
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. bass — the fish
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. drill — a practice
  24. drill — the tool

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