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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: mug · fork · nail · drill · cold · rash · scale · row

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. drill — army training
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. scale — size or range
  8. mug — a cup
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. scale — in music
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mug — a face
  13. rash — a series
  14. mug — to rob
  15. drill — the tool
  16. row — to paddle
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. drill — a practice
  19. row — a line
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. fork — in a road
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. rash — on the skin

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