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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. fine — all right
  3. club — for dancing
  4. key — the most important part
  5. file — a line of people
  6. saw — the tool
  7. band — a music group
  8. club — a group
  9. key — for a lock
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. wake — a trail
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. file — a tool
  14. fine — high quality
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. saw — the tool
  18. band — a ring
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. club — for golf
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. key — in music
  24. file — a document

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