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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. kick — in football
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. key — the most important part
  5. file — a tool
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a document
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. clip — to cut
  14. drill — army training
  15. drill — the tool
  16. clip — for paper
  17. key — in music
  18. bat — the animal
  19. clip — a video
  20. roll — a cake
  21. drill — a practice
  22. roll — a list
  23. key — for a lock
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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