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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: scale · cabinet · mine · face · bulb · cold · drill · wake

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. drill — the tool
  4. mine — for digging
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. bulb — for light
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wake — a trail
  16. bulb — for light
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to point toward
  19. drill — a practice
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. scale — in music
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. scale — size or range
  24. drill — army training

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